'87 CGT "overheating" after huge snowstorm

[Andrew Butitta]

Okay... How can this happen? Can melted snow get in to
pinhole leaks and freeze?

The car uses coolant, slowly. The time before last, I
topped up with some plain water, but then topped up
with 50/50 coolant...

I drained the system (minus heater core) in september,
replacing all the coolant in the block and radiator
with 50/50 antifreeze.

I have a 1.5 hour trip to make tomorrow, and need this
car operating correctly.. >.<


Two questions then:

1) where is the coolant temp sensor (the one for the
dash) & what are optimal readings for it? I'll give it
a test with an ohmmeter / voltmeter and see if it's
working.

2) Is it possible to use an external heat source to
melt any frozen water in the cooling system?


Some additional info:

Riding home from work today, I kept the heater on H
and the fan on high, and the temp gauge stayed out of
the overheat area. It ran hot, but didn't "overheat"

Starting the car this afternoon, after it had sat in a
12F parking lot with winds, the temp gauge immediately
registered cold/normal (rather than
'too-cold-to-register'). Within 30 seconds, it was in
normal operating temperature.

I got home and parked it (in a normal spot this time)
and let the engine run while I felt the two main
radiator hoses. The top one was hot (but not too hot
to touch without gloves) and the bottom one was cold.
Is that normal? Which direction does coolant flow in
this engine?

Thanks a bunch for your help, all of you! It is
starting to look like I will have to cancel my trip
tomorrow... :(

-Andrew

--- mike mcclurg <rrrrraudi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Freezing coolant in your radiator will do this. Lot
> of
> people don't realize that HOT in winter can be
> caused
> by FREEZING.
> 
> Mike
> 
> --- Andrew Butitta <akbutitta at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> >   I filled up the coolant the next day and dug
> > myself out of my 'parking place'. As I rounded the
> > lot, I noticed that my coolant gauge (after 5
> > minutes of operation) was saying H, nearly
> > overheating. My heater, on the other hand, was
> still
> > blowing cold air, as it would with the engine only
> > running for five minutes on a 12-degree-F morning.
> 
> 
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