88 GXL stock
Overheats when idling but not when I'm driving it.
Top hose is HOT bottom hose is warm
Coolant could be boiling but sounds more like air is being sucked in.
any Ideas????
I have a few ideas but not sure!

 

could be the clutch fan. get the engine warm and shut it off. now grab the fan and try to spin it. if it freely spins the fan clutch is shot. it should give resistance.

 

Does your fan work?

 

Fan has resistance.
Loosing some coolant but only when it is overheating.
When I drive it down the highway it seems to be overcooling (needle is just a little above the line. If I stop, within 2 or 3 minutes the temp shoots way up but then when I take off it shoots right back down just as fast. When I turn it off hot it sounds like its boiling but when cool it doesn't bubble at all??????????????

 

Fan. Internal leaks have just the opposite traits.

 

I 2nd (or third?) the opinion, check the fan clutch before you go nuclear.

 

DEMONRACER, your forth, I'm on third, Jimmeyv is on second and Scott is on 1st. Wildcard, the gurguling when you shut off when its hot, is probably the water regurgtating from the radiator into the overflow tank. You don't have any obstructions in front of your radiator, do you? No you would have already looked for that. Belts for the fan reasonably tight? Don't overtighten though.

 

Here is some more information:
When the car heats up my heater starts blowing cold air.
It makes the bubbling sound evertime I shut it off (hot or cold).
Fan has some resistance but very little.(spins about a quarter turn freely).
Nothing in the way of the radiator besides the oil cooler.
Put on new radiator cap and thermo housing cap plus new thermostat.
It was blowing out of one of the worn out caps but now it comes out of the overflow.
I can hear the bubbling sound near the fire wall somewhere as well as the front of the motor.
Took it to a shop but that didn't do me any good (they told me it wouldn't overheat for them??? so I drove away and sure enough the first time I let it idle it started to overheat AGAIN.)

 

Either way...if it's overheated multiple times, or even once it got really hot, you probably need a new motor or yours rebuilt. That should fix it.

 

I've read you can trash your motor because of overheating but my car still runs ok
It has overheated a few times but only about 3/4 up the gauge.
1. I don't really have the cash
2. I'm in Central Kansas, where am I going to find someone I can trust to rebuild my engine?
Any suggestions?

 

You don't necessarily need a rebuild. It depends how hot you got the engine, luck, etc. To find out if your cooling prob is engine related, check the water seals. To do this, pull the Rad cap near the thermostat housing (with the engine cold) and see if there are boulbles coming up with the engine idling. A steady stream of bubbles = bad news.

It sounds to me like your fan clutch is bad or you have a belt loose. Somtimes the fan clutches seem alright when you spin em a few times, only to go freewheeling on the fourth or fith spin. I would check it again by spinning it by hand 10 revolutions or so.

Also, are you running both the air pump and alternator belts? (or a dual puley system) If your just running one belt, it can slip at idle when the fan resistance is high.

 

I've got a similar problem right now. How constant of a stream? Without pause or one every few seconds?

 

First of all guys, check the obvious and cheap things first: hoses, rad cap, thermostat housing. Then start worrying about engine rebuilds

As for the bubbles, if its a constant flow of little bubbles (or big ones, doesnt matter), then you are in more trouble...

 

check your water pump my old 87 n/a se use to do this and the water pump was dieing in it, it just wasn't pumping enough water when it was idling