2002 Chevy Camaro Car zooms from cool to HOT intermittently

KAWIDIRTRIDER

MEMBER
2002 CHEVROLET CAMARO
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
93,300 MILES

Gentlemen: my camaro just started intermittently going from normal temperature to HOT approx 260. This is after vehicle sitting for over 2 hours. It then overheats after driving approximately 12 miles. Again this is only happening once in a while.

I was advised by a garage mechanic that the radiator should be flushed, temp sensor replaced, fluids replaced and radiator cap replaced.

Do you know of anything that could be causing this.

I will have the work done as soon as possible and should it happen I should do the following:

1 ) pull over
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?

thank you for any information you can provide

1 Reply

XTREMEMODIFIER

MEMBER
29 POSTS

Radiator cap won't hurt. I sincerely HOPE you watched that gauge close, and shut it down soon after, otherwise you might wind up with a blown HG shortly there-after (not fun to do on any of these 4th-gens).

The cap also might as well be replaced, as I had a similar issue in my LT-1 (cracked T-connector in the coolant system, and the radiator cap didn't like going from 160 to 250 in less than 20 seconds).

If it does it, shut the engine down, pop the hood (get more cold air flowing in), etc. I would not, personally, recommend driving a vehicle, or at most driving straight to a shop, with such a condition. Is it fluctuating (shoots up then back down quickly) or is it more of a slow crawl? Almost sounds to me like air bubbles in the system (takes your incompressible coolant and turns it into a compressible, let's just say the result isn't pretty). Pressure flush, make sure there's no leaks anywhere to allow coolant out and air in.