just became owner ls1 with problems...

**xtreme747** · 07-25-2007, 06:52 PM

hi guys , i have recently joined and would like to thank spawn ta for his posts concerning his coolant overflow problem . my car was doing exact same thing and my tb bypass hose was hooked into the overflow line ... so now it is not doing that anymore but it is still air locked it seems , i cannot let the car idle with the rad cap off because it will overflow and sputter no matter how many times i try to let the air blow out of it . but i have filled it back up and capped it and have been running it . it NEVER heats , the gauge is perfect and car is running perfect . but i cannot figure out why i cannot get it up to running temp . and leave it running with out the cap off , all other vehicles i have owned have been able to do so. i can take the cap off after a drive and the car shut off and it doesn't bubble over .
the guy i bought the from is waiting for my decision to keep the car or not and i definitely want to keep it . it is a 2001 ss with 37000 miles...i do not think this problem is serious but i have a lot to learn about the LS1 engine . the car idles at 195 - 200 and runs perfect . so any ideas what the problem is ? it seems as though air lock . any ideas greatly appreciated ...thanks

**xtreme747** · 07-25-2007, 07:01 PM

i guess i should have introduced myself ... my name is craig , i am from new brunswick canada and cannot figure out why it took me so long to buy an LS1.... nice site fellas

**SexOnWheels** · 07-26-2007, 06:12 AM

Craig, nice to have another Canuck join up!

Welcome to LS1.com

**xtreme747** · 07-26-2007, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by SexOnWheels

Craig, nice to have another Canuck join up!

Welcome to LS1.com

thanks man.

**Liveforfunjim** · 07-26-2007, 01:35 PM

**Datzneat** · 07-26-2007, 02:03 PM

Welcome to the site!
It sounds like your car isn't idling at the right rpms. Mine (01 SS) idles at about 800rpms. I wouldn't go by the temp gauge on your dash. Alot of people say that it's pretty much a dummy gauge.

**Jays00ss** · 07-26-2007, 04:44 PM

**xtreme747** · 07-26-2007, 05:49 PM

got final air lock out ... car is working fine ... thanks to anyone who posted .

**camarojunky74** · 07-31-2007, 12:32 PM

98 and 99 dont have dummy gauges they actually work, but yeagh welcome, eh! lol

**shady milkman** · 07-31-2007, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by camarojunky74

98 and 99 dont have dummy gauges they actually work, but yeagh welcome, eh! lol

**PFM** · 08-01-2007, 12:20 PM

So according to your gauge on your car it never gets hot? Just kinda stays low no matter how hot it is outside?

Well it might not seem like that would really affect anything anyway right?
Sorry dude the answer is wrong. One of the few things that will never make a service engine soon or throw a code that you can interpert is the Water Temp Sensor. I've got a 98 and they are accurate. Yours is what they call a dummy gauge. It just tells you when something really bad is going on. After I had a new shortblock installed I had 2 problems. 1. The Water Temp gauge in the car never got hot. It just hung around 180 or so. And before this I could actually watch my thermostat open by the gauge. The other problem was the oil pressure was low at idle.

So what I found out was the water temp sending unit was fried. According to a Tech Tool the car thought it was 35 degrees all the time. While it was in this state of illusion it was busy adding just as much gas to the mixture as it could. Because it thought it was cold outside!! So if your Water Temp Sending unit goes bad if affects the Air fuel, the timing (started spark knocking bad) and the starting off the car. It would turn over for ever and never crank until you started pumping the accelerater pedal like your trying to crank a carberated car with no choke in the winter. Changed out the sending unit and it immediately fired right up.

And we found out the oil pressure was low and they are going to fix that for me. So thoses sending units on your car do more than operate the gauges on your dash. They also report data to your cars CPU so it can use the information to compensate for different driving conditions. I never knew this before it happened to me but its good info for you to remember. I would get my sending unit checked out or replace it. Its right there easy to get to on the drivers side head and a new sending unit from the GM dealer for mine was less than $20.00

**xtreme747** · 08-02-2007, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by PFM

So according to your gauge on your car it never gets hot? Just kinda stays low no matter how hot it is outside?

Well it might not seem like that would really affect anything anyway right?
Sorry dude the answer is wrong. One of the few things that will never make a service engine soon or throw a code that you can interpert is the Water Temp Sensor. I've got a 98 and they are accurate. Yours is what they call a dummy gauge. It just tells you when something really bad is going on. After I had a new shortblock installed I had 2 problems. 1. The Water Temp gauge in the car never got hot. It just hung around 180 or so. And before this I could actually watch my thermostat open by the gauge. The other problem was the oil pressure was low at idle.

So what I found out was the water temp sending unit was fried. According to a Tech Tool the car thought it was 35 degrees all the time. While it was in this state of illusion it was busy adding just as much gas to the mixture as it could. Because it thought it was cold outside!! So if your Water Temp Sending unit goes bad if affects the Air fuel, the timing (started spark knocking bad) and the starting off the car. It would turn over for ever and never crank until you started pumping the accelerater pedal like your trying to crank a carberated car with no choke in the winter. Changed out the sending unit and it immediately fired right up.

And we found out the oil pressure was low and they are going to fix that for me. So thoses sending units on your car do more than operate the gauges on your dash. They also report data to your cars CPU so it can use the information to compensate for different driving conditions. I never knew this before it happened to me but its good info for you to remember. I would get my sending unit checked out or replace it. Its right there easy to get to on the drivers side head and a new sending unit from the GM dealer for mine was less than $20.00

thanks for the info man ... but after i reversed the throttle body bypass hose and the coolant jug hose , because the people who put the new rad in the car got them backwards , and i got the final airlock out the car is running perfect . the tb bypass hose is below the rad cap so the car would put prestone out the coolant jug when the lines were backwards and the coolant system never built any pressure. the car is running perfect , sometimes the smallest mistake can make you lose a lot of sleep when you first buy a vehicle.... thanks for the response.