Temp gauge how dow i know if my fans are any good on my 95 ss? temp goes red and smelling a coolant smell lightly. what temp should they kick in?

Could be.. is the system FULL? Air in it can cause some odd things. When engine and coolant are COLD (as in after sitting over night), open the radiator cap. Top off the overflow res with a 50/50 antifreeze / water mixture to HOT mark. Start engine, turn heat to hot and fan to high. Top off RADIATOR with same 50/50 mixture slowly & gradually. As the coolant circulates, it should bring any AIR trapped in the system (from heater core & engine block) to the radiator where you can replace it with the 50/50 mix. Once the coolant is HOT and stays level - about an inch under the opening, close the radiator. Monitor the overflow res and add as needed. Good luck!

Bad water pump?

Let's go over a list of things here and get everything organized. Most cars have an "open" coolant system, meaning that if it gets too hot (thus increasing the pressure inside the coolant system), the reservoir or radiator cap will open up and allow that pressure to release, or the coolant to expel - which would cause you to spill coolant.

After it cooled down, you were able to drive it for 70 miles - presumably on the highway/interstate/freeway, or another road that may not have a whole lot of stopping.

Then you started driving in town, most likely with stoplights or stop signs. The car overheated then and you weren't able to get it restarted (which is normal and is a safety feature on a lot of cars).

Fluids are good, the fan is kicking on, and the belts haven't broken.

Okay, so you actually did a pretty good job narrowing this down (assuming I didn't miss anything). The car is doing it's overheating when you're in stop and go traffic, with low airflow. If you are running your air conditioning, try turning it off and see if that keeps you from overheating (assuming the car starts now). If it does, then chances are your fan isn't kicking into high-speed. On some vehicles, you have two fans, on others you only have one. If you have two fans, one will only kick on when the AC is running. If you have one fan, it should have two speeds. A low-speed for simply cooling the engine, and a high-speed for when the AC is running.

If you don't overheat when the AC is running, check your relay box under the hood and search for a relay that should be labeled something along the lines of "Fan 2", "Fan High", "Fan AUX", or "Fan AC". If you find one, replace it or try switching it with another relay. Good luck!

If the temp gauge periodically rises higher than normal and then falls back to normal, you probably need to change the thermostat as it may be sticking shut and then popping open. It's a good time to change some hoses, coolant and check the belts if they've been on the car for awhile.

First things first. Check your coolant level. If that is up to snuff, then have the engine data scanned, and see if your coolant temp sensor is out of whack. If it reads very low, the pcm will give the fuel management system directions to add alot of fuel. However , as I mentioned before, low coolant can cause the temp sensor to read a cold engine(it usually must be submerged in coolant) and cause the same problem. There are more things to check, but this is the place to start. If you have no luck with these suggestions, get back to me and we'll go furthur. Good luck!

Coolant sensor may be the problem. It is located near the thermostat housing. It may be sticking between modes & not operating properly.Also make sure coolant is circulating in system.

sound like your coolant temp sensor runs your fans.

you might have to put in a lower temp.thermastat so like if it has a 195 put in like 180 or whatever you can get that is cooler than whats in it and it should say the temp.right on the old thermastat.Call a parts house and ask them what temp ranges of thermastats they have for your year make and model of car.

First check that your fans are operating and coolant level is full. If they are, check that there are no leaves etc stuck betweren the radiator and the AC condenser.Last option is a bit more expensive...radiator may be partially obstructed internally (would need flush or replacement)
Egg smell brings me to another potential problem if converter is partially plugged it will raise engine temp as well...the rubber smell is oil residue on block getting hotter than normal and evaporating.
If you work on this yourself ask any techinical questions you have along the way and I'll try to help. Otherwise get the car to a shop asap...overheating in any form can severely damage your engine.
Good luck!!

It's overheating.  check thermostat and water pump, also radiator coolant levels.  once you get it running at normal temp again take it to the shop and have them do a chemical test to see if the head gasket was damaged or the block was warped or cracked as this usually happens when your car overheats.