Couple of problems with my Fuel Injected 350

I have a 1988 Chevy Silverado with a fuel injected 350, completly stock.

I'm having a few problems

1. The motor has been over heating in the last few days.

Here is what I've done, Put new anti-freeze/water in the radiator and replaced the heater hose.

I've been told it could be an improper antifreeze/water mixture, a bad thermostat or a lack of vacuum on the heater hose.

BTW, it is bad to start the motor with the radiator cap off?

2. I burn oil when I start it up and when I put it to the floor. I run about 25 psi at while driving but sometimes it'll fall to damn near 0 when at idle. I used to run 10W30 but a friend told me to use 10W40 and it hasn't been as bad about fallin real low while at idle.


Any comments?

Start with the basics. Check tension on the belt going to the water pump. Are you sure the "oil" burning you see at start up is oil and not water? Steam disappates quickly and oil just sort of slowly drifts away. Smell should also be obvious. Is the system maintaining coolant level? A little more detail on how it's overheating might help. If the guage is accurate, oil pressure is low, but thats a whole 'nuther can of worms.

Art

I know it is oil, I can smell it and I lose oil quickly, have to put oil in every other week it seems.

As for the over heating, I think I might not have the clamp on the hose tight enough. Correct me if I'm wrong, but could that not cause it to overheat?

Pull your plugs, check them, if any are compleatly clean or stand out to the rest, put a peice of tape on the wire it goes to, then put them back in

pull them all out, marking them as to which cylinders they go to

unplug wire to coil

run a compleate compression test, any that are low, see which 1's they are, if they are the 1's you had marked with tape because the plugs were washed, more than likely an internal leak

check your oil for antifreeze smell, smell the exhaust

check your thermostat in boiling water to make shure it opens

what color is your smoke, blue, white or black?

Hmmmm. Heating. Burning oil. Low oil pressure.
Time for a complete overhaul or a rebuilt engine.

Trust me, I would love to pull the motor and rebuild it or just overhaul it, but you know how it can be with parents.

"Don't fix it, you'll just break it!"
*Doesn't get fixed, truck breaks down*

"Why didn't you tell me it was messing up!?"