LS 02 V8 Overheating ???

[TN_LS_02_V8]

I have a 02 LS w/ V8 that seems to be overheating

1) No signs of overheating other than temp gage and light/buzzer. No loss of performance observed. But I shut it off very quickly.
2) Normally, temperature gage needle stays right between C & H.
3) When first driving (engine cold) after about 5 or 6 minutes the temperature gage starts to climb to H and temp warning goes off. I shut off engine and condition is over in less than a minute and then everything is completely normal regardless of time or driving conditions. Could the temp get back to normal so quickly if it was actually overheating?
4) Problem is getting steadily worse but always happens at the same time in my drive to work. Seems to stay in "overheat condition" longer each time.

Took car to dealership and had therostat and ?housing? replaced .... so they said. However condition still exist and was actualy worse. I almost called a wrecker but after a few restarts it was back to normal. It is going back on Monday.

Any suggestions?

 

[02LSE96LSC91SE84TC]

Has to be a sending unit or something to that effect. I don't believe the car can cool down from overheating that quick.

 

[Blackspyder]

Overheating

I'm pretty sure it's the thermostat, sometimes when it gets old, it becomes stiky so it won't let the coolant work anymore, you can buy it for less then 20 bucks at the dealership plus installation. I had the same problem a month ago and since I changed it it never happend again. Good luck

 

[DLS8K]

I'm pretty sure it's the thermostat, sometimes when it gets old, it becomes stiky so it won't let the coolant work anymore, you can buy it for less then 20 bucks at the dealership plus installation. I had the same problem a month ago and since I changed it it never happend again. Good luck

He had this thermostat replaced by the dealer.............pretty sure not the problem.

Hey TN......how many miles does your car have on it? Also, does your car only overheat in the city/stop-and-go traffic? Give us a little more information to dissect.

 

[beaups]

probably have air trapped in the system.

 

[00ls-sport]

probably have air trapped in the system.

my thoughts exactly.

 

[TN_LS_02_V8]

Mileage and more

The car has 41K miles. Forgive my ignorance everyone but what is a sending unit?
The car will "overheat" in city as well as highway. But it has had limit opportunity to see city traffic.
My further observations is that the fan kicks in for a minute or two before it finally "overheats".
Well the question is do I really know what a over heating LS looks like? I would invision steam coming from somewhere.
Does the temp gage and warning light read off the same sensor???
I also observed that after driving the car the coolant level seems low but will go up if I squeeze the coolant line to the radiator.
What are some common sense checks I would make to elliminate or pinpoint certain things/parts/problems? Such as squeezeing the coolent line and wheezing being a sign of a leeky filler cap.

 

[free139stylz]

I had just about every problem with my ls including this one. It was doing the same thing to me all summer long then finally i got pissed off and pulled over. popped the hood open and rite there where you pour your anti freeze in i twisted that cap off and it was all steamy and smokey in there then I poured like a cup of antifreeze in there and it never said it was over heating again I dunno but it fixed it

 

[TN_LS_02_V8]

Problem Solved

Had taken the car to the dealer and this time instead of throwing parts at the problem they used a little problem solving techniques. They found the head temp sensor was bad. They replaced it and the car is now fine.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

I hope they gave you credit for the first work they did since it didn't fix a thing. Or was it done under warranty?

 

[TN_LS_02_V8]

Problem not fixed

Car is still under bumper to bumper warranty.

Car ran fine for a couple of days then started to repeat same problem yesterday morning (3/24). Additionally it appears that the temp gage drifts up a little any time it is accelarating or under a little more load. Such as going up hill.

When I first got it out of the shop on the 22nd, I noticed that the gage seemed to take longer to rise to normal and stopped just below the midway point. So I thought all was now well but this turned out to not be true.