overheating/thermostat/radiator

[SpaceGoat]

My car started overheating, the coolant temp got to about 273 before i shut it off. The next day i replaced the 195 degree thermostat and took it for a test drive. Low coolant would go on and off but the temperature stayed around 190-200 for the most part. I took it on the highway and did some reving and i got up to maybe 215-220 degrees. I got off the highway and it went back down but smoked was arising from the lights. Im not sure if the water is leaking or its just bubbling over the top. I filled it with water after most of my antifreeze boiled over the first time it overheated. It seems pretty dirty in there (im gonna flush it out this weekedn), but could that be what causing the smoke? Its weird b/c it seemed like the new thermo helped in a sense that the temp would go back down when it should (before hand it would rise, rise, rise). Anyway, im confused, any ideas?
Thanks
-SpaceGoat

 

[johnl]

Mine 97 was starting to run a lot hotter than what I considered normal. I read a few posts from several sites, and the consensus was that that after 100,000 miles or so, stuff tends to get clogged in-between the fins in the A/C condenser and the radiator.
I have a write up for removing them in the C4 to do a through cleaning. But on my C5 I removed the top piece of the shroud and got down there in between them with a 90deg garden sprayer. I know this is was a temp solution at best and I will have to take them out to do a through job, but it did help and the temps are back down to where it normally was.
There was an incredible amount if really fine dust, dirt, grasshopper legs, and stuff in there.
I’ll find that write up and post it here.
J

Edit: This is the site with the cleanng details http://www.batee.com/corvette/index.shtml

This was a pretty good thread about heating issues.
http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31331&perpage=15&pagenumber=1