'68 L71 Overheating

[Michael H.]

Hi, guys!

I'm just getting into driving my newly restored Corvette! What a dream. Yesterday, I braved leaving the neighborhood in it, and the car began to overheat. After looking checking under the hood, I realized that I left the vacuum hoses disconnected from the wiper door cannister. Can this resulting vacuum leak cause the overheating due to running too lean?

I checked the timing and it's dead on 4 deg BTDC.

One thing I haven't done is adjust the idle mixture screws. They are both 1 1/2 turns out. I can't remember the procedure... do I back them out until the idle is at the highest RPM and then run them back in 1/4 turn or vice-versa?

Thanks for your help!

Michael

[Joe L.]

Re: '68 L71 Overheating

Michael-----

I seriously doubt that the disconnected vacuum line is the source of your overheating problems. But, simply install it and see what happens then. Unfortunately, I don't think that your problem is going to be solved this easily.

Cooling problems, or apparent cooling problems, can originate from too many things to discuss here in detail. Clogged cooling systems(radiator, block),defective fan clutch, improper fan shroud-to-support seal installation, and inaccurate gauge or sending unit are some of the more common ones.

You'll probably find a lot of discussions of this topic in the archives. I think about every base has been covered. And, these type of problems and solutions are not necessarily specific to a particular engine option, so just about any of the previous threads should provide useful and applicable information.

[Tom B.]

Re: '68 L71 Overheating

Micheal,

I agree with Joe and the vacuum hoses information. Since we're starting to get into warmer weather I'm sure more and more "running hot" and overheating questions will begin to appear and the best thing is to check the Archives for nearly every practical answer to that. With so many different causes, if the solution(s) still seem to evade you, post back up with everything you've checked and tried. TBarr #24014

[Michael H.]

Re: '68 L71 Overheating

Thanks, guys,

I'll check the archives and try a few things, and get back to the disc bd if I don't have any luck.

michael