MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

Okay, first, I have a 1989 IROC, 5.7L TPI. Here's the story:

I went to the mall to pick up my girlfriend from work, but she didn't get out yet, so I drove around the mall. No really heavy driving. Sure, I gunned it one or two times, but nothing major. So then after my trip around the mall, I park and wait for her to come out and see smoke coming from the engine. I pop the hood and my coolant is bubbling and smoking. I grabbed some rags and opened it and let it cool, drove home and all was fine.

That was two weeks ago. Today, after the movies, I took my girlfriend home. The drive isn't too far, maybe 8-10 miles at the most. I wasn't driving it crazy either. The highest I had it to was 55 in a 40, thats it. I'd say an average speed of about 40 MPH though. Well when I get to her driveway, I shut off the car and I heard the coolant bubbling again. I popped the hood, and sure enough it was. I turned the car back on, checked the temp and it said it was around 220. Neither fan was on. What temperature should they kick on? And how do I fix this? Thanks in advance.

IROCThe5.7L

Same damn thing happened to me almost.



For me it was my fans not turning on. They are suppose to turn on @220


I don't know if its your fans though. My car only gets hot if its idling for like 25 minutes because the fans wont turn on. When driving it, it never gets even close to being hot at all (Im guessing from air getting sucked into the radiator from driving it)

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

It happened to you cause we have pretty much the same exact car :sillylol:

They're supposed so just come on at 220? Isn't that a little hot?

IROCThe5.7L

It happened to me first! My car must be giving yours bad luck

Im almost positive 220. But your coolant should not be bubbling at 220. Maybe your Temp gage is off.

When mine started bubbling the temp was like 250. But like 2 seconds after I turned it off it stopped. Thank *** I caught it when I did.

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, the temp could be off. Any way to check that out?

And it happened to yours first cause I got my car more recently. Wouldn't it be creepy if everything happened to your car first, then mine? It would be like somethin outta a move or something. Oh yeah, I need sleep, haha. :lala:

IROCThe5.7L

LOL



I'm not sure how to test if your gage is reading correctly. I think mines a little scewy itself. I owned the car since July, fans have only turned on one time, and my gage was reading about 160-170. (I guess I got a 160 stat)


Then when my car gets hot, they dont turn on. *** backwards


Im sure someone here can help ya with that

AA89GTA

I think fan #1 (driver side) is supposed to come on at 220 or 225 deg. stock. The second fan comes on only when the A/C is on or if the engine temp gets to 240.
I had a similar problem to the one you have...my fans weren't working, so my car would overheat. But once it overheated once, one or both of my head gaskets and my intake manifold gasket got fried. I had coolant leaking into my engine after that...so it would slowly lose coolant with no visible leaking until it got to low, and it would overheat again. Took me a while to figure out where my coolant was going. Ended up having to take my aluminum heads to the machine shop.
So if your fans aren't coming on at 220, there's probably a problem, see if the motor is getting a signal, and if it is then get yourself a new fan motor. And definitely check your coolant level in your radiator and make sure it is full. Also, you should either put in a manual fan switch or get a relay kit so your fans turn on earlier...220 is way too high, I turn mine on at 185.

--Aaron