Did my thermostat just go?

[Joshu]

Hey all,

I was on the road for 5 minutes in mild traffic and I redlined to 260. My coolant and oil levels are fine. The oil was a little warm but not 260. Was it my thermostat?

Thanks

[fastTa]

Could be lots of possibilities. Water pump, t-stat, blown head gasket, air in coolant system, collapsed radiator hose, faulty fan, bad radiator cap not holding pressure.

Is there coolant coming out of the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump? You also should perform a coolant system pressure test. It should hold 15-18 PSI. Since the t-stat is a very simple R&R, you could go ahead and replace that.

If the coolant test proved to be succesful, then you can safely assume that the headgaskets and radiator cap are ok and there are no other leaks in the coolant system.

Considering it got that hot that quick and while in trafifc, I would suspect a bad water pump, stuck t-stat, faulty fans, or collapsed hose.

[Joshu]

Ok thanks FastT/A, I'll really take a look at it tomorrow. Something that I did note, there has never been water/condensation/whatever it is coming out of my exhaust before. Just dripping a little while on, coming out of both pipes. Does that mean anything?

[fastTa]

Ok thanks FastT/A, I'll really take a look at it tomorrow. Something that I did note, there has never been water/condensation/whatever it is coming out of my exhaust before. Just dripping a little while on, coming out of both pipes. Does that mean anything?

It's common for condensate to form inside of the exhaust during cool down. When you start it up in the morning, you will normally see some steam/vapor/condensate coming out and is nothing to worry about.

What you should be concerned about; is if you continue to see steam/vapor/condensate coming out of the exhaust after it is fully warmed up, and you smell that all too familiar "sweet" odor of coolant.

[Joshu]

What you should be concerned about; is if you continue to see steam/vapor/condensate coming out of the exhaust after it is fully warmed up, and you smell that all too familiar "sweet" odor of coolant.

Oh crap, and If I smell it?

[fastTa]

Oh crap, and If I smell it?

If you continue to smell coolant after the car has fully warmed up, unfortunately that is a strong indicator that coolant is getting by a head gasket and into the cylinder.

Parts stores also carry test kits that look for exhaust gas (specifically CO and CO2) in the coolant system.

Has it gotten that hot recently?

[Joshu]

Recently, the thermostat might have actually redlined over a month ago if it was accurate on a 350 mile road trip

http://www.f-body.com/forum/showthre...ighlight=amish


I drove home normally with no issues

[fastTa]

One good bit of news is that you shouldn't have to get the cylinder head machined because of it being cast iron instead of aluminum.

260°F can warp an aluminum head very quickly.

[Joshu]

I think ive finally found a problem.

Somewhere between last week and now, my coolant has turned to sludge. There was like a moldable paste on and around the radiator cap. Could this explain the thermostat going way up or is the sludge a result of a bigger problem?

I had the radiator flushed in March

Thanks again

-Josh

[fastTa]

The sludging is likely the result of you having to constantly add coolant lately. Dex Cool needs to be roughly close to a 50/50 mixture with water or it can sludge up. Too much or too little Dex Cool in the system can allow electrolysis to occur and cause the sludging.

There is a good chance that the slude is throughout the cooling system now as well. Depending on how bad the sludging is, you might need to do a complete system flush including the heater core.