| Overheated at the drive through Zoo |
Subject: Overheated at the drive through Zoo by Moe_Vette on 2009/7/24 12:14:49 Jesus loves me be because she stalled out in the Monkey section and had only just left the bears, lions and tigers. Dear all - a Brief history Although I am lucky enough to have an 89 Vette in Toronto (in absolute cherry condition) I also have a 92 Vette in the UK (where I am now) that I got of e-bay as a non-starter a little over a year ago. With only 40,000 miles she was still in pretty appalling shape (I have since replace the ECM, transmission, Opti-Spark and had tuned by a performance shop whom say the motor is sound - small mercies !) Also have all the replacement interior parts and gonna get a new carpet too) I seem to be left with 2 issues I hoped I could trouble your guys for your opinions on (cheers) OVER HEATING Ferried/Drove to Paris a couple of weeks ago and the car was great the whole way there (maybe 85 degrees Fahrenheit outside) the car coolant temp stayed at a steady 176 degrees Fahrenheit then entire way to the city (approx 3+ hours of highway driving) but when I hit town and was stopping at lights the temp went up AND FAST. Within about 10 minutes it was showing 230+ on the digital display and was very very close to the red on the analog gauge in the dash. then a strange things happens ..... The digital display begins to drop way down (like from 235 down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit - then up and down) then within 8-10 seconds the car sputters stalls out. (then is tricky to start - cranks for 10 second before she lights back up) Please Note - I did a basic once over the car before leaving - reserve coolant tank showed full as did the coolant cap in front of the passenger side so I do not believe there is a lack of coolant nor a leak. When I got back a local garage thought my RAD was the problem and is why only the wind at higher speeds seems capable of keeping the car at a good temperature. I do hear the RAD Fans kick in as the car warms up but this does not control the temp enough to stop it hitting 230-240 when driving slow in town or in drive through Zoo's as was the case yesterday. Not easy getting Vette bits out here but will be returning to Canada next week for a couple of months (miss my 89!). Are there any parts/sensors you folks think I should pick up for the 92 when back home ? I can get a RAD there I imagine cheaper than here. Would you suggest I try to service the RAD I have? get an upgrade to the 92's existing RAD fans ?(England is by no means a hot country so I can only imagine what it is like in the southern states etc). Clearly I have a cooling issue of some sort but am not really sure where to start - many thanks for your thoughts (much appreciated) HIGH IDLE I know from going to the odd Vette shows that my 92 is not idling the way it should. Seems way high to me - allow me to explain When started cold the rpm's sit at about 1500-1700 (even after a 5 minute warm-up) when in gear she drops down to a more comfortable 700 rpm. When started hot (or in neutral when warmed up) the rpm's still sit at 1000 ish - is this something that can be modified via the chip in ECM ? could it be something else ? don't think my idling is right though - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated warm regards |
