Overheating PLEASE HELP! God isn't listing.

[GLS_Jeff]

I have a 2000 GLS with 86k miles. Bought this car in March and instantly fell in love. Drove it for two weeks and the rack/pinion went on it. Fixed that. Then the temp was hanging out past the halfway mark so I drained the original orange crap, flushed the system, and put in new green stuff. Car made it 30 miles and overheated. Changed thermostat, overheated again. Changed thermostat again, overheated again. Took thermostat out overheated...again. Installed brand new radiator, water pump, coolant resivoir and cap, thermostat, all hoses, and fluid......STILL OVERHEATS. Here is the issue...
I start the car, bring it up to normal operating temperature, and shut it off. Then I bleed the system at the bleeder near the water neck. After just fluid comes out I close the bleeder and top off the fluid. Then test drive the car and it makes it three miles and overheats. I bleed the system six times and everytime tons of air comes out and the fluid goes down. And just keeps overheating. I went threw over four gallons of coolant and the strange thing is I don't know where it's going. There are no leaks, and it's not coming out the exhaust. No water in the oil either. When the car overheats the coolant level is fine. It goes down everytime I bleed it. I just don't know what to do. Please help cause I have no idea what direction to go in from here. Thanks everyone

[heineck]

what engine???

[[ion] C2]

what engine???
GLS = 3400 only


Air's getting in somewhere. Head gasket, small leak somewhere (you may not even notice it until you seriously search for wetness)..

[Redog]

What does the oil look like?

[GLS_Jeff]

I changed the oil shortly before all this and it still looks brand new. Only about 100 miles on the oil. I definitely think air is getting in somewhere but its like impossible to see everything in that cramped engine bay

[Redog]

Fill the coolant
Start the car
Rev engine at throttle plate
Watch coolant bottle while doing this
See if coolant goes away and then comes back

If this happens, you have a head gasket leak that is allowing combustion gasses in the cooling system. The second best head gasket leak to get, the first would be no head gasket leak ;)

[GLS_Jeff]

wow thanks for the input. will definitely check that out. Can't believe im gonna have to do a head gasket on a car with 86k miles

[cavaliers60]

had to do it on mine with only 65k ish miles. on it. It's a common problem for the 3400 engine....

[[ion] C2]

mom's van went around 80k

[GLS_Jeff]

ok just checked and when I rev it up the level rises to the overflow then goes down when I stop

[Ryan from Ohio]

STOP


























Head gasket time!

:lol:

[[ion] C2]

pull plugs, look for wetness on plug and inside cylinder.

only surefire way.

[Lucalare]

Mine has like 87k and it has had head gaskets done before I bought it (and they made a mess, engine was all oily).

[GLS_Jeff]

Looks like i'm changing a head gasket. This better be it or it's full coverage and a tree.

[JLw7123]

oh the headgasket is not that bad. There is a great how to.

[Redog]

I had 2 HG jobs.

First one was when I wanted to upgrade to the P&P heads from RSM. The second was an actual HG job at 115,000, but I still drove it, because it would only puke coolant when I got on it. Driving back and forth to ASS was fun that year :awesome:

[mrmike]

stupid question: did you take the cap off the coolant tank when you bled the system? I didn't the first time I bled it, and I could completely remove the bleeder screw without any coolant coming out. Just my 2 cents

[Gr1m]

umm your really not supposed to mix DEXCOOL and just regular green antifreeze IIRC. sounds like because you mixed them it could be clotting up somewhere and causing the circulation to suck. i would try to properly bleed the coolant (by opening the lower rad and using a garden hose or something) and completely remove all of the old shit. you might want to try this first because if you do head gaskets at a shop your looking at anywhere between $500-1000 and if this fixes it all you need to do is get a $15 bottle of coolant to refill it after the flush. just my opinion though.

[JLw7123]

but he flushed the system. I changed from dexacool to the green coolant and I have had no problems. but My questions for Him is how did he flush the coolant system out. i used a coolant system flusher. this is something similar that I used. But if you just drained the coolant system and then put in the green coolant i used something similar.http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bowlesautomotive.com/images/Coolant-Flush.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bowlesautomotive.com/specials.html&usg=__xUm06UoSVugW5VA8aLK6ue2o_uQ=&h=569&w=500&sz=30&hl=en&start=0&sig2=7FEJlqO6iGAxvfCcwLqIpQ&zoom=1&tbnid=Xz6Y22GGNAiTaM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=144&ei=ShEKTpGLG-rN0AG51dyeAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcoolant%2Bsystem%2Bflush%26um%3D1%26h l%3Den%26authuser%3D0%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667%26t bm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=623&vpy=204&dur=676&hovh=240&hovw=210&tx=99&ty=130&page=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&biw=1366&bih=667

[[ion] C2]

Don't ever use "CONVENTIONAL green"... use Prestone all makes/all models or something like that. (which tends to be a green color though anyway)


All makes/all models means just that. Compatible with any antifreeze. I used to HATE working at AutoZone explaining to morons what coolant they can use.

[JLw7123]

i used prestone. i have had no problems. Ya ion i know what you mean but someone has to help them.

[cavaliers60]

C2;590007']Don't ever use "CONVENTIONAL green"... use Prestone all makes/all models or something like that. (which tends to be a green color though anyway)


All makes/all models means just that. Compatible with any antifreeze. I used to HATE working at AutoZone explaining to morons what coolant they can use.


I'm actually going to be changing the coolant in the car probably tomorrow. Thanks for saying that... I probably would have just gotten whatever. :lol: I'll look for the Prestone.

[zzyzzx]

If my engine were overheating I would not immmediately blame the coolant. Nor would I replace a thermostat unless it was visibly stuck open or failed a test (you can boil them in water and see if they open).

I see that you prefer to just throw parts at stuff, without doing any diagnostics.

You must be an auto mechanic!

Personally, the only time I have ever seen anything like this (twice) it was the water pump both times. The first time it was on a car where water pumps frequently went bad. The second time it was a truck and the water pump was in the front of the vehicle and it was real easy to see it leaking.

In your case, it's possibly crap parts from China, fan problems (you have not stated if you have seen it running), or an engine gasket.

Personally, I have never had any trouble bleeding a cooling system. Even when I did my LIM gasket, I hardly had any air in it when I bled it (which all by itself might be a hint as what your problem might be).

[GLS_Jeff]

I don't consider myself a mechanic but I do know my way around a car. When I flushed the system I drained all the old coolant, filled it with water, ran the engine for a minute, then drained again. I repeated that till pure water came out. Then I filled it with Prestone premixed 50/50. I used AC Delco parts and replaced all of that cause I work 80 hours a week, so I just wanted to get it all out of the way and have a good running car. If I need to change the HG I plan on doing it myself so any pointers would be greatly appreciated

[GLS_Jeff]

Oh and the fans are running perfect

[Ryan from Ohio]

Before you go any further you would be best suited to do some tests on the car.

I would do a pressure test on each cylinder. The prop gauge can be borrow for free from Autozone. If you have a bad head gasket you will find a cylinder that wont hold much PSI or bleeds off real quick.

If that all checks out fine then borrow the coolant pressure tester.

From what I read in these posts it sounds like a HG. But doing these tests will either prove it or rule it out.

[a.graham52]

see if you can find or purchase a block tester. its a bottle you set ontop of your surge tank and if theres combustion gasses in your coolant it will change color letting you know you have a bad head gasket.

[zzyzzx]

I would also be doing whatever pressure testing I could with the Autozone loaner tools.

[zzyzzx]

Oh and the fans are running perfect


Just wanted to rule that out, even though I figured that something as obvious as that was probably checked.

[GLS_Jeff]

Wow I didn't know you could borrow the testers from autozone for free. Thanks thats a huge help. And I am definitely going to hunt down a block tester cause I believe thats the issue. Thanks again guys

[Ryan from Ohio]

Bear in mind its "free" when they return your money.

Basically you buy the unit and return it after using it. Its setup this way so if you keep it or break it, you bought it.

[zzyzzx]

Wow I didn't know you could borrow the testers from autozone for free. Thanks thats a huge help. And I am definitely going to hunt down a block tester cause I believe thats the issue. Thanks again guys

One thing about the AZ loaner tools is that if the tool you want to borrow is out of stock, you might have to go to another AZ. So call ahead.