over heating, heater blowing cold air, oil light, service engine soon light

[cherryfrog]

:huh: ok so i live in mn and it was very cold this morning. i started my car to warm up and 10 minutes later went to leave, the thermastate on my car was hot and almost red. i said ok leave defroster on and start driving into the wind it will cool down (like all my other cars) NOPE so wrong it went hotter:huh:.It was going from right below the red to red then back. and my defroster/heater was blowing freeezing air. then my oil light starts flashing off and on. i got to my brothers school and turned it off to walk him in and gave it 10 minutes to cool down. i went back out and the car wouldnt turn over. i tried again and nothing all lights came on then went off and the onlhy light that would work was service engine soon. my radio wouldnt even work. any ideas?????:huh:

[[ion] C2]

jesus that's a lot of random shit going wrong

Check your oil level, make sure it's not low. If it's not, replace the oil pressure sensor.

Check your coolant level. Are you sure it wasn't your "low coolant" light going on and off? If the tank is empty and you have air in the system it's going to prevent your interior from getting hot because there's going to be like no coolant flow through the heater core, and the engine is going to overheat without any coolant to cool it down.

If the coolant level is fine, replace the thermostat. If that doesn't keep the car from overheating, there's another more serious issue. If the above fix the overheating issue, and the car still won't blow hot air into the cabin, check the heater control valve (replace it) and if that doesn't work, it's probable that the heater core has clogged.

[jayson_waltz]

check all that C2 said, but i doubt you will have a oil problem. but, also, what engine do you have? if the 3.4 and the limg hasn't been fixed maybe you dumped your coolant into your oil even though it would have to be a hell of a lot to get low enough coolant to overheat. if your oil is normal color your fine though, if milky your screwed there and need a limg replaced. if the coolant level is good, thermostats are only like $12, i put one in last winter in my 2.4.

[[ion] C2]

Failsafe's $12.99, the Duralast from AutoZone's good stuff for like $7.99.

Oh yeah about the not starting and electrical stuff you mentioned at the end, I have no effing clue. :huh:

[jayson_waltz]

o i didn't see your end electrical problems. they make me think some that your battery is so bad that maybe the rad fans didn't turn on, which would cause the car to overheat pretty easily. get that thing tested before you start spending money.

[a.graham52]

a good place to start like already stated is check your oil, your coolant level. and also check your coolant condition. too much water and you could be freezing up inside. also get your battery tested as well as your battery terminals checked for corrosion. who knows. if you were over heating maybe you melted some wires under the hood. just my .02

[[ion] C2]

o i didn't see your end electrical problems. they make me think some that your battery is so bad that maybe the rad fans didn't turn on, which would cause the car to overheat pretty easily. get that thing tested before you start spending money.
Dude, the radiator fans don't turn on until 223 F or if you have the defrost or A/C on. The car should run only around 185-200 tops normally. The fans don't control overheating whatsoever. It's all about the radiator.

[a.graham52]

C2;513854']Dude, the radiator fans don't turn on until 223 F or if you have the defrost or A/C on. The car should run only around 185-200 tops normally. The fans don't control overheating whatsoever. It's all about the radiator.

well if the fans dont come on and your temps at 230F... whats controling your coolant temp then?? thinkg about it.

[alerored04]

Where in MN? If it is a v6 I may be able to help. I am clueless with a 4 cyl though. Possibly a serp problem? No water pump or alt spinning would cause the overheat and no start. Oil light seems goofy. Was the power steering ok? Did it crank when you tried to start it or was it completely dead?

[[ion] C2]

well if the fans dont come on and your temps at 230F... whats controling your coolant temp then?? thinkg about it.
My point is, if the radiator fans don't turn on, that is not what's allowing you to overheat.

If your temperature is at 230F (after a hard few WOT runs or the like in hot weather, NOT due to a separate problem with your cooling system), the coolant temperature will drop due to the cooling system's efficiency in radiating heat. The fans seem to be useless. Having them on versus off in my car has made negligible differences in cooling down times (I can actually adjust the temperatures they turn on, so I've tested this).

The car's operating temperature is due to the cooling system's ability to radiate heat. There's also a misconception that by using a colder temperature thermostat will make the car run cooler and prevent overheating. Using a colder thermostat will not prevent overheating, it will simply make it take a little longer for the car to get up to the overheating temperature. The thermostat opens (on the 2.4L) at 180 degrees F. The car runs at 185-200 regardless. The thermostat is fully open at these temperatures, leaving the increase in temperature solely up to how efficient the radiator is at giving off heat, and how hard you're pushing the car, how much heat the engine is transferring to the coolant. Kicking on the fans isn't going to cool down an overheating engine. 95% of the cooling is going to be done via the core radiating heat to the surrounding air. This is why you'll see the most cooling done via coastdown from say, 70MPH, and not when you're standing still with the fans blasting. They simply cannot flow the amount of air that a moving vehicle can.

[a.graham52]

C2;513934']My point is, if the radiator fans don't turn on, that is not what's allowing you to overheat.

If your temperature is at 230F (after a hard few WOT runs or the like in hot weather, NOT due to a separate problem with your cooling system), the coolant temperature will drop due to the cooling system's efficiency in radiating heat. The fans seem to be useless. Having them on versus off in my car has made negligible differences in cooling down times (I can actually adjust the temperatures they turn on, so I've tested this).

The car's operating temperature is due to the cooling system's ability to radiate heat. There's also a misconception that by using a colder temperature thermostat will make the car run cooler and prevent overheating. Using a colder thermostat will not prevent overheating, it will simply make it take a little longer for the car to get up to the overheating temperature. The thermostat opens (on the 2.4L) at 180 degrees F. The car runs at 185-200 regardless. The thermostat is fully open at these temperatures, leaving the increase in temperature solely up to how efficient the radiator is at giving off heat, and how hard you're pushing the car, how much heat the engine is transferring to the coolant. Kicking on the fans isn't going to cool down an overheating engine. 95% of the cooling is going to be done via the core radiating heat to the surrounding air. This is why you'll see the most cooling done via coastdown from say, 70MPH, and not when you're standing still with the fans blasting. They simply cannot flow the amount of air that a moving vehicle can.

ill give in. i stand corrected. :whistle: after thinking aobut it iv noticed the temp drop after i started cruzing. im learning as i go.

[a.graham52]

idk if this has already been said but ill say it anyways: check your oil for coolant and your coolant for oil. if your running a v6 their known for havin intake leaks. also check your coolant level, check your coolant condition, make sure its at the proper freeze protection (-25 or lower woud be safe) unless its realy cold there. CHECK YOUR COOLANT CAP. if the cap isnt holdin pressure then the boiling point of your coolant is going to go down. if you have no hot air coming from the heat (and you know the temp door motor works) then you know somethins not right. when you check your coolant cap also check your cooling system and make sure it can hold 15-30psi for atleast 2 minutes. if it hold it for longer even better. just remeber if the coolant is worm-hot and you pressure test it, the pressure in the system will go down as the liquid cools. id still check nad make sure you havnt had something melt under the hood and for gods sake... if your themostat cover is RED. why did you drive it. it should never be red. (this also tels me you drive a v6 because the thermostat and water pump are unternal on the LD9 and you can not visually see them)

good luck. cover the basics and get back to us

[Gr1m]

ill put my money on a bad water pump

[Nate's Alero]

idk if this has already been said but ill say it anyways: check your oil for coolant and your coolant for oil. if your running a v6 their known for havin intake leaks. also check your coolant level, check your coolant condition, make sure its at the proper freeze protection (-25 or lower woud be safe) unless its realy cold there. CHECK YOUR COOLANT CAP. if the cap isnt holdin pressure then the boiling point of your coolant is going to go down. if you have no hot air coming from the heat (and you know the temp door motor works) then you know somethins not right. when you check your coolant cap also check your cooling system and make sure it can hold 15-30psi for atleast 2 minutes. if it hold it for longer even better. just remeber if the coolant is worm-hot and you pressure test it, the pressure in the system will go down as the liquid cools. id still check nad make sure you havnt had something melt under the hood and for gods sake... if your themostat cover is RED. why did you drive it. it should never be red. (this also tels me you drive a v6 because the thermostat and water pump are unternal on the LD9 and you can not visually see them)

good luck. cover the basics and get back to us

DAMN!!!! this is the most helpful person with under 15 posts!!!! you get an award! :offtopic:

[a.graham52]

DAMN!!!! this is the most helpful person with under 15 posts!!!! you get an award! :offtopic:

hell yeah. but im still learning as i go. college helps :rolleyes2:

[[ion] C2]

if your themostat cover is RED. why did you drive it. it should never be red. (this also tels me you drive a v6 because the thermostat and water pump are unternal on the LD9 and you can not visually see them)
WTF you smokin? She's talking about the dashboard gauge that gives the coolant temperature reading when he says "thermostat" because she didn't know what to call it. It has a nice red area that means "CAR'S HOT, FIX NAO PLZ."

How would the actual thermostat (that controls the coolant flow) ever get red hot besides past around 900 degrees F? :lol:

[cherryfrog]

Thanks everyone. We spend all day yseterday fixing the car. Some how the battery died when he jumped it it started. he filled the coolent (his brother was driving the car before i got it 3 days ago) and the heat started working again. i left and got almost home and the air got cold again. so they came back and the coolent was very low again. i took it in and and they radiater cap was destroyed. it wasnt holding a seal. so they replaced it and so far no more problems. hoping that was all it was :) again thanks everyone for all ur help.

[Nate's Alero]

headgasket good? surprised because it seemes GM engines never hold a good fgasket after getting that hot

[cherryfrog]

they looked it over and said it was good.

[a.graham52]

C2;514018']WTF you smokin? He's talking about the dashboard gauge that gives the coolant temperature reading when he says "thermostat" because he didn't know what to call it. It has a nice red area that means "CAR'S HOT, FIX NAO PLZ."

How would the actual thermostat (that controls the coolant flow) ever get red hot besides past around 900 degrees F? :lol:

wouldnt "temp gauge" be even easier to say? the old 3100s you had to take the top half of the thermostat housing off to remeve the thermostat. to me thats a thermostat "cover"as for how it could get red idk? weird shit happens and thats why i said waht i said. im still trying to figure out how to get "temperature gauge" from "thermostat cover"

[cherryfrog]

ok i'm sorry i was going off 2 hours of sleep yesterday. forgive me ?:)

[[ion] C2]

You're the one who said "cover" lol. She just said "thermostat" and mentioned it going in the "red."

I'm just bustin your balls since you're new

[kwhauck]

and the 3400s have that same "cover" you are talking about as the 3100, underneather the throttlebody, sandwiched between the motor and the cross-over pipe, which can be a pain in the ass.....

[a.graham52]

C2;514046']You're the one who said "cover" lol. She just said "thermostat" and mentioned it going in the "red."

I'm just bustin your balls since you're new

true. to me i had the idea that the thermostat was visibly seen being red. and so i asumed that the only part you could actully see waht the cover on the thermostat. takes a little to be a lot off i guess.

[alerored04]

Looked it over isn't going to tell you if the head gasket is good. I would do a compression check after all that overheating if I were you.

[Nate's Alero]

Looked it over isn't going to tell you if the head gasket is good. I would do a compression check after all that overheating if I were you.

what i was thinking

[cherryfrog]

how do i do that lol?

[[ion] C2]

Rent a compression tester from an auto parts store like AutoZone.

remove the IDI cover
pull out the fuel pump relay
unscrew the spark plugs
thread in the compression tester into one cylinder
crank the engine over a few times and take a look at the gauge, note peak pressure
reset the compression tester gauge
repeat for next 3 cylinders.

If any are a lot lower than the rest, you've got a problem. If they're all very close to each other, you should be good.

[a.graham52]

C2;514193']Rent a compression tester from an auto parts store like AutoZone.

remove the IDI cover
pull out the fuel pump relay
unscrew the spark plugs
thread in the compression tester into one cylinder
crank the engine over a few times and take a look at the gauge, note peak pressure
reset the compression tester gauge
repeat for next 3 cylinders.

If any are a lot lower than the rest, you've got a problem. If they're all very close to each other, you should be good.

might be a good idea to do this when the engien is NOT screaming hot. you risk stripping the threads with the aluminum head. on a side note...

the OP mentioned the oil light flashing on and off...
Background info: i bought my car (LD9) alst feb. and if you drive it for 10 miles it was fine. drove it for 11 or more and the oil light would come on at idle. hooked a machanical guage up where the sensor went and had 3psi at idle once hot. put some Lucus oil treatment in it and beat-feet to new hampshire. had no problems.

weather warmed up (summer time) and the car overheated, oil light came on at idle and when i shut if off coolant gushed out of the overflow. checked cap and found the cap bad. best guess is coolant was boiling in the head and thats why it flowed over BEFORE the fans ever kicked on.

OK so now: the last oil change i put in Delvac 1300 oil and a little bit of lucus. nice and thick. no light. changed my oil thursday at 3k and for shits and giggles i didnt put lucus in with 5w-30 and ran it all the way to maine 238miles and NEVER had the light come on at idle.

its possible that:
somethign was stuck in the pick-up tube and its now gone,

the fact that i didnt have any coolant pressure and now i do has something to do with it,

thers a tiny bit of diesiel oil still in the 5w-30.

after that whole mess and major hi-jacking.... anyone else have screwy oil lights... i personly think it has something to do with my radiator cap and i was hoping somone could verify.

[[ion] C2]

Coolant has nothing to do with oil pump operation... Oil flow is all mechanical.

[cherryfrog]

funny thing is my coolent light was never coming on it was my oil light. my oil is find just had a oil change 300 miles ago. and my boyfriend checked it all out and the oild is fine. but it was the coolent that was low. we put coolent in and had to replace the radiator cap and everything has been fine since. well besides having to get it flushed since a a friends borther put rv antifreeze in it grr

[a.graham52]

C2;514358']Coolant has nothing to do with oil pump operation... Oil flow is all mechanical.

i know that. i didntk now if coolant is boiling in the head might do somethign. weird shit happens.