I bought an 89 hatch with a ls motor with 150k++. the previos owner changed the water pump 10,000 miles ago, it had overheating problems even after that. it gets up to 240 degrees and the fan wont kick in, so i hardwired it. that doesent help. the head gasket isnt blown, ive changed the radiator(aparently he had too ) new thermostat the radiator cap is good, i dont think theres any air in the system. theres no flow trough the lower radiator hose, and I know I installed the themostat correct. also the temp gauge seemed to be rising and falling to fast to be right so i put a auto meter gauge in, it seems correct now. i dont know what that has to do with anything. its burning oil for sure. its kinda a part car right now, i would like to beat on it though.

so im left to believe the water pump is bad or not installed correct . I think thats the only part of the coolant sytem left to replace.

any help would be apreciated

 

If there is no flow through the bottom hose, then the thermostat must be stuck shut. Are you sure that you have all of the air out of the system? Try running the car without the thermostat and see what happens then.

 

the thermo could be bad even if its new, put it in a pot of water that has a thermometer in it and see if it opens up at the proper temp when you heat it. other than that was the pump installed a honda one, it could have been a cheap parts store one which I have seen have problems

 

thanks. ill try removing the thermostat