1995 Pontiac Firebird Radiator Circulation

Tiny
MARJOHN
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 PONTIAC FIREBIRD
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 73,000 MILES
About 6 months ago, my car started to indicate an overheating condition. I stopped driving it and saved up to fix whatever the problem might be. I took it to get the radiator flushed about 4 months ago and still nothing. I haven't driven the car other than that trip until 2 months ago when I had a new water pump, coolant sensor, and thermostat installed, when that didn't work, I parked it again. The temperature gauge gets up to 260 degrees pretty fast on the panel and the low coolant light is always on. If I let it sit for a few weeks, it looses some coolant, but not much and I can't find a leak anywhere. Yesterday I popped open the hood and tried again. I start the car, let it idle and watch the gauge go up. The coolant stays cold, and doesn't appear to be moving. I thought it could be the head gasket, but I have no white smoke, no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil, nothing. Usually the car would cool off at highway speeds, but when I got into town, it heats up. Both fans appear to be working. I have noticed that inside the radiator is very rusty. When the car is at 250 degrees, one hose is kind of warm and the other hose is still cold. There's no pressure on the radiator cap, the overflow hole at the top of the radiator was clogged with what appeared to be rust so I cleared it. The cap has a slight crack in the rubber, but the spring works easily. The hoses are a little soft, but look like they're in decent shape. I'm at the end of my rope and could really use some expert advice. Please help!
Monday, January 19th, 2009 AT 5:51 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
KEVIN12881
  • MEMBER
  • 336 POSTS
Did you say you can look into the radiator and not see the coolant move? A have a 95 trans am as well, and when I had to fix overheating problems (tmermo in my case) I could see it move like a whirlpool. Take your themostat completely out and start it with cap off (put thermo cove back on of course). If you do not see the coolant move, then you have a blockage or bad waterpump. Just because the thermo is new, does not mean it is good.
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Monday, January 19th, 2009 AT 6:56 PM
Tiny
WRAICE
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I had the exact same problem. I have the same year and model. I replaced everything! But, I fixed it. The inner linning on the top radiator hose was caving in on itself and causing the coolent not to flow. It looked good from the outside but check the inside of your hoses to make sure they are not seperated from the rest of the hose. Jonathan
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Sunday, January 25th, 2009 AT 6:57 AM

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