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Lower Radiator Hose

2K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  grgguy 
#1 ·
So I'm on the freeway driving along not paying to much attn to the cars gauges. I look down and see the CEL is on ? First thing I look at is the temp and its not reading at all its below the 160 mark. The car seems to be running fine so I go to change lanes to get off the freeway and I needed to accelerate a bit to do so and I hear a pinging noise I got the car off the freeway at the next exit thats maybe a mile. As soon as I come to a stop the car stalls out I hit my fan switch cause now I'm seeing steam coming from the hood. I open hood and Ive got stam coming from the valve covers and the back of the motor. I get it home and I find the bottom radiator hose is completely off ? WTF how does that happen ? Here's a picture of my oil's dipstick. Please tell me something good. Last thing I started the motor for a brief moment just to see if it would turn over. I t did but it sounded terrible
 

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#2 ·
I don't want to be the one with bad news but man this sounds like what happened to my Camaro. Although a hose didn't come off, it overheated really bad and died. The motor was toast. Heard some bad noises. Oil looked like it had shavings in it. Do you see anything sparkling in the oil?

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#3 ·
Sorry to hear about your Camaro. No i didn't see any metal in the oil. Thank god ,right ? No I'm going to fill it with water later in the week and see how she does or if there's any other leaks. I really don't want this to be the end for my car. She had been beastly since I did all the work on it a year ago. It really was running good. I don't feel like I had this coming. I wasn't racing her around and I had been doing everything right with this car. If the worse becomes reality it will be heart breaking.
 
#6 ·
And I should do these things before starting it..and when you say flush the radiator. It's only a year old and there isn't much to flush seeing as it was the lower hose that popped off. When changing the oil. If I see metal shavings its over , right ?
 
#8 ·
So I'm on the freeway driving along not paying to much attn to the cars gauges. I look down and see the CEL is on ? First thing I look at is the temp and its not reading at all its below the 160 mark. The car seems to be running fine so I go to change lanes to get off the freeway and I needed to accelerate a bit to do so and I hear a pinging noise I got the car off the freeway at the next exit thats maybe a mile. As soon as I come to a stop the car stalls out I hit my fan switch cause now I'm seeing steam coming from the hood. I open hood and Ive got stam coming from the valve covers and the back of the motor. I get it home and I find the bottom radiator hose is completely off ? WTF how does that happen ? Here's a picture of my oil's dipstick. Please tell me something good. Last thing I started the motor for a brief moment just to see if it would turn over. I t did but it sounded terrible
No coolant and engine temp at 160° does not compute.
 
#9 ·
I was told that temp sensor wouldn't read at all without coolant in the system. And yes I know there are 2. 1 on the drivers side of the block (?) which the computer reads ( pcm ) from and the other directly below the water pump which is the one that the instrument panel displays. So when the radiator hose popped off and the coolant drained only then temp sensor then quit working. Which kind of still bugs me because the 1 on the block should have kicked my fans on once its independent sensor saw the temp rise. Also shouldn't any CEL turn the fans ? The fans didn't come on themselves once I had the CEL. I have an SLP fan harness switch that I had to turn on once I realized what was going on.
 
#10 ·
The fans dont come on with a cel.

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#12 ·
The fans dont come on with a cel.

I had a CEL for the MAF before and the fans came on with it ?

Sent from my LGL41C using Camaro Zone mobile app
You have your sensors backwards. They work the opposite of what you said.

I'm pretty sure my fans come on with ses light.

Sent from my XT907 using Camaro Zone mobile app
I think you may have misunderstood me I said they didn't come on with the CEL and I was questioning as to why that was that they didn't as I believe they are supposed too
 
#14 ·
I'm pretty sure my fans come on with ses light.

Sent from my XT907 using Camaro Zone mobile app
Mine never has.
However, I suspect it would if the SEs was for either of the following:

P0117 Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) sensor circuit low voltage
P0118 Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) sensor circuit high voltage
 
#13 ·
On both my 98 z28 and my 02 bird the cel doesn't trigger the fans. My fans work fine if the temp gets up though. Maybe its a 93-97 thing, or for some reason mine just dont do it.

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#15 ·
I've never gotten those codes, so maybe it would if it threw those.

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#19 · (Edited)
So I did as suggested here and I flushed the radiator,put a new thermostat and O ring in. I changed the oil and Oil filter. I also got a new radiator recovery tank. On original one the long battery clamp was broken off. Anyways I did all those things and my beautiful car started right up. At first she was running a little rough like it was missing or something. I then noticed some steam coming from the exhaust and I told my self that shes been parked for almost 2 weeks there could be some condensation built up in the exhaust. Well that was short lived. The steam soon turned into a full blown stream of brand new coolant coming out of my exhaust. Need I say more. For the moment I'm heartbroken. I've put my soul into that car it was my pride and joy. I WILL keep it and depending on how bad it really is I may drop an LS1 in her. If if is just the head gasket then Ill do that. However by the amount of coolant coming out the back I was told that I may have cracked the block. If thats the case then I'll be on the market for an LS1. I like the front end of the 93-97 Camaros better then the latter 98-02 models. I'm not a big fan of those catfish eyes( no offense guys ). We all know the LS1 is the better motor so why not have the best of both worlds. Is there any advise anyone can part with in helping me pick out a new motor. Or is making sure it has low mileage gonna be it.
 

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