car overheating

car overheating. no heat, temperature gauge rises. thermostat? where is it located and what's the best way to fix it? any other ideas to what the problem might be is welcome. it's a 1996 camaro base.

Thanks

Could be your thermostat is stuck closed, usually they get stuck open though and keep the car from running hot enough. This is a good start though to inspect and replace the t-stat.

Here is a picture for the V6
Let me know if you need one for the V8

Make sure you figure it out right away. My friend's 93 With the LT-1 had bad overheating problems from the day he bought it. He replaced everything from t-stat to radiator. Nothing solved the problem. Finally he figured out he had a cracked head. Aluminum is easy to crack as opposed to cast iron. So make sure you fix this overheating problem right away cause I know my friend wished he had.

:smoker2: Thanks for replying. My friend and I flushed the system completely and man you should have seen the gunk that came out.. As you probably know GM filled their cars from 96 on up with DEX-COOL crap.. This evidently has broken down and has fouled my cooling system. Anyway, we flushed every which way you can flush it. Refilled grudgingly with the DEX-COOL, replaced the thermostat since that was completely gunked up and it runs fine now. Head gasket is fine no damage there but I think I got really lucky although when it started overheating I pulled it over. Didn't drive it in that condition. I'm probably going to pull the water pump out just to check it out and give it a good cleaning or maybe replace since once I have it out I might as well replace it. The pump has 89,000 miles on it. Do you know anything about the power window switch and or the motor. My driver side won't go up and down anymore. I can control the passenger window with the driver side switch and the mirrors and locks, just the driver window won't work. I know a lot of people have said it's the motor, but I think it's the switch. Just got a felling. I don't want to buy a switch or a motor and not know for sure since you can't take them back since it's electrical. What's the best way to determine if it's the motor or the switch causing the problem? Thanks...

Pull the door panel off and supply the power to the motor directly and see if it works or not. I think by hooking positive to positive the motor should go up and by reversing the polarity the motor should go down. Also you can test the switch to see if power is going in and out of it.

Just a few ideas,
glad to hear you overheat problem is fixed, and your back on the road.

Fiddle with the switch and see if it works. These things are famous for breaking at the pivot point.

I fiddled with the switch and I've made a bit of a mess it seems. Before I fiddled with the switch everything worked except the driver side window. Now I can't control either window and the radio is out completely.. Nothing showing on the radio at all. I know the radio has something to do with the door since the radio stays on after turning the ignition off until you open the door (either one). It's not the fuses, checked them already. Can't tell if it's the circuit breaked though since it doesn't have the filament to see if it's broken..

I have a little nugget of info though about the idle.. I'm sure you guys know about it. I was having an idle problem once in awhile. and the rpm's going up and down mostly up like crazy on occasion.. I replaced the Idle sensor.. Big difference in the driving experience that's for sure.. :frog:

When you roll my driver window down, you can here it through the speakers. Not for sure, but it does have something to do with the sending unit, switch, or other piece of elctrical harness that the whole drivers door sits on and talks to. So from ther find out what you can, make sure the door pin, (Little pressure sensative switch that sits between the door and the front quarter, which is what shuts the power off to the radio when you open the door, the pressure is gone) is still wired correctly in the door, and that you didnt brake it, or loosen it, cause if ther is no pressure on it, and the key is on, after shutting of the car, then its the switch. Just a theory. Other thing, is that the switch connects to the radio harness in some way, and I think it is actuall like a turn on lead or something, so if for some reason power isn't being sent to the radio, you might check under the kick panel on the drivers door, where the wiring harness enters the car from the door. I havnet had time to research this yet, but hope it helps.