Hi,

My car (1996 3000GT) started overheating after just a few minutes on the road. The mechanic said the heads were blown and I couldn't maintain coolant pressure.

A few weeks went by and I removed the thermostat. Now I can drive the car for 20 minutes or so before it starts showing some overheating. If I'm on the highway at about 80mph after about 10 minutes the needle starts to climb up to the red and then drops back down to normal. It stays at normal for about 10 seconds and then repeats. It doesn't stay hot for long but each time it happened it climbed a little higher. After about 3 instances of that I took my exit and let it cool a bit. Driving in stop and go traffic it will start to heat up when I'm at a stop. If I rev the gas pretty hard in neutral it will drop back down to normal.

I trying to get some opinions on what this could be. Does it sound like the water pump is slipping or going bad? Or does it sound like a blown or warped head that can't maintain coolant pressure. I'm thinking if I couldn't maintain coolant pressure there be no way to get that needle down once it starts climbing.

Thanks for the help.
Vic

 

I had a leak in my water pump and it didnt act like what you are discribing. It would run out of water and simply overheat. It sounds like it could be the water pump... but the timing belt controls the water pump in my '95 3000GT so you might want to check that out.


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