cooling problem solved

gearheadtoo

Registered User
Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for all the helpful info on the tech forum.
Have been having a cooling problem with my '94 SC ever since I bought the car about a month ago. The wierd thing was that it would run really cool in town as long as I hit the AC switch occasionally but as soon as I got out on the freeway and jumped on it it would heat up,abovethe M in normal or higher.
I had already flushed the cooling system and installed a180 thermostat so I did a search on the tech forum and found that this is a common problem with late model SC's. I also discovered that there is supposed to be an air dam mounted below the bumper cover ,(mine was missing).
To make a long story short, I made an air dam out of some scraps laying around in my shop.It's about 35" wide x 4" tall and I mounted it directly to the lower front of the radiator core support. I just took the car out for a drive on my favorite stretch of highway and at an outside air temp of 86 and a steady 85 mph the temp never climed over the n in normal. Total cost was about 2 bucks for some sheet metal screws and washers and 99 cents for a can of flat black spray paint. The info on the website is priceless.
If you are having high-speed overheating problems and the rest of your cooling system is ok you should make sure your air dam is in place before you start throwing money at it. I'll SC you guys later,
1 happy gearhead
 
gearheadtoo said:
Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for all the helpful info on the tech forum.
Have been having a cooling problem with my '94 SC ever since I bought the car about a month ago. The wierd thing was that it would run really cool in town as long as I hit the AC switch occasionally but as soon as I got out on the freeway and jumped on it it would heat up,abovethe M in normal or higher.
I had already flushed the cooling system and installed a180 thermostat so I did a search on the tech forum and found that this is a common problem with late model SC's. I also discovered that there is supposed to be an air dam mounted below the bumper cover ,(mine was missing).
To make a long story short, I made an air dam out of some scraps laying around in my shop.It's about 35" wide x 4" tall and I mounted it directly to the lower front of the radiator core support. I just took the car out for a drive on my favorite stretch of highway and at an outside air temp of 86 and a steady 85 mph the temp never climed over the n in normal. Total cost was about 2 bucks for some sheet metal screws and washers and 99 cents for a can of flat black spray paint. The info on the website is priceless.
If you are having high-speed overheating problems and the rest of your cooling system is ok you should make sure your air dam is in place before you start throwing money at it. I'll SC you guys later,
1 happy gearhead
DAMNIT!!!!!!!!! Ur going to get me started on a quest to put one of those on watch...

Now I'll have to make a run to see what I can find to make one of these things...
 
air dam

sonicman1634 said:
Im having the EXACT same thing happening to my car as well. What is the air dam suppose to look like?

The air dam is just a flat piece of plastic about 30" long x 3" or 4" wide. It mounts under the car just in front of and below your radiator and ac condensor. It stops some of the air flow from under the car and redirects it up into the radiator. Sorry I don't have any pics but hope this helps.
 
You can buy a GM air dam for about $15 and only need to drill a couple holes to bolt it on. Here is a picture of the one I put on my SC last year. GM P/N #22635885. It fits the ’92-‘98 Pontiac Grand Am and Chevy Cavilier.

GMairdam.jpg


GMairdam2.jpg


David

PS: Vernon C. supplied the info on this mod a couple years ago.
 
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I have the Pontiac GrandAm deflector on my '93, it fits well. However the design is different on the 94/95, so that piece won't fit those later years. The stock 94/95 deflector is only about 1" deep, much shorter in length and a lot more curved. I made a deeper one, but because my car is lowered and the stock position itself is lower, it ripped right off on a curb. So now I overrride my low speed fan to run all the time in the summer and that works out well on the highway.
 
I finally got one and what a difference! I had Ford order me a new one for $30. That combined with a coolant flush and water wetter did the trick. Even with it being 98deg outside it didnt hardly move past the m mark (when we put a Genesis OBD computer on my car the n mark was about 220 deg). I guess the 94/95 models have a smaller one. The one I got is only about an inch and a half to two inches wide. I guess that little bit goes a long way. Thanks alot for the informing thread.
 
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