I have a '75 Nova and a 350 v8 engine, my radiator wasnt working right because of the old thermostat on it so the water would dump out, so i left it alone and one day on the way home fom work it got really hot, usually its 220 degrees on the gauge but it went past the limit which is 280, then i got the thermostat fixed, and a couple days later on the freeway it was making a popping noise, it got worst and worst, and now it does it everytime i drive, it drives slow, its noisey, and pops when you give it acceleration, its coming from the carburetor. I changed the spark plugs and ditributor cap and all. Any ideas on what is wrong with my car? I need to get it fixed tomarrow

 

Welcome, is it SBC or an SBO in your Nova?

Sounds like a timing chain or timing issue, have you checked it? It can also be a number of things since you overheated it.

 

What is the temp of your new thermostat? If you put a 210* thermostat in it try changing to a 180*.

 

Could have burned a valve if it hit 280+ degrees like you mentioned, best thing to do is run a compression test. I'd be surprised it didn't blow a head gasket.

 

You let your engine go to 280°?

I think you're a troll. Go troll another site.

- Eric

 

Now what is up with this??

 

• No prior posts.
• Pops up asking a question about a different make of car that was never produced with an Olds engine.
• Describes a situation of improbable neglect followed by an improbable consequence (280° temp), which, if it were true, would probably mean his engine was totally trashed.
• Essentially an exaggerated story poking around for exaggerated responses, which can be posted word-for-word on a number of different sites at once.

Sorry, but I don't buy it.

- Eric

 

In the words of the great Bugs Bunny, "Ehhhhhhhhhhhh Could Be".

 

Thank you for the advice, Im having ome people look at it so we can try our best on fixing it. Tomarrow Im going to get the timing chain looked at, then from there im going to have to change out the cam and valves. If you have any more ideas, let me know

 

You first have to isolate the popping all the strange noises. Then see if your radiator is holding coolant, and none is winding up in the crankcase. The timing chain play you can check by removing your distributor cap and turning the crank back and forth with a socket and breaker bar, while looking at the rotor. If you can turn the crank an inch before the rotor moves the timing set is worn out.

I'm thinking your engine has suffered greatly.

 

If 'it's popping back thru the card' like the last dude said, take a compression test. Most times I've runn across that 'popping back' I found damaged intake valves or head gasket failure.