problem with my 1989 chevy sprint 1 litre, 3 cyl auto

Asked by dairabar Feb 13, 2014 at 09:06 PM about the 1989 Chevrolet Sprint

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My 1989 Chevy Sprint is heating up when I am driving it, but cools down when I stop the vehicle and I noticed spurts out black smoke out of tail pipe, but only once in awhile. I replaced the head gasket, water pump. It is not losing water and does not overheat, but is now heating up. There is no water in the oil. I am wondering if I need to replace the valves, or why it is heating up when I am driving? Any advice would be appreciated.

6 Answers

199,615

What does your oil pressure look like? Is it dropping as the engine temp rises? If so could be your oil pump failing

I checked and the thermostat is not stuck and cooling fan is working. The oil pressure is okay, even when I am driving and when I go to a stop sign it starts to go down. I tightened the head gasket to specs and it is not losing any water now, but it seems to be burning a little from the tailpipe, but other than that it is running great. I do not know whats going on with the car?

44,635

You may have a hair line crack in the head where you can't see it. Especially if you see it coming from the tail pipe.

1 people found this helpful.

valves are not your problem... Make sure that all connections to fan are not corroded. Radiator could be plugged with tiny leaves etc.. with the thermostat removed (easy job) and the engine still cool ,, very cool, remove the radiator cap and you should see the water/coolant moving fast with the engine reved up.. it not the radiator needs to be removed and boiled out at a shop.. Also I don't think you have a head problem... Did you have it resurfaced when you changed the gasket??? if you did they checked for cracks..

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