04-22-2012, 07:50 PM
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#1
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Car overheating, have changed EVERYTHING!
Well my daughters 3.4L Alero overheated. It kept losing coolant out the overflow tube. I figured it was bubbling out because of a bad head gasket. The heads were really warped, so I decided to get another engine from a salvage yard. I checked compression on the "new" engine and all were between 130 and 150. Oil was clean etc. So I installed it. When running it, it gets hot. Ironically, all the coolant comes out of the overflow tube again. Since it was showing the same signs as it did with the previous engine, I assumed it had to be something in the cooling system. I replaced the reservoir and cap as many suggest. I replaced thermostat, water pump, and radiator. It's still doing the same thing. It gets really hot and pushes coolant out of the tube. I have "burped" it after every refill to no avail. Any suggestions as to what the problem is? Could I have gotten engine with a blown head gasket? (car was wrecked with 70k miles, so assumed that was the reason in salvage yard). If it was a head gasket and "blowing" out through exhaust side (to cause bubbling in water) wouldn't I lose compression? LIMG maybe? I'm at a loss. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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04-22-2012, 07:55 PM
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#2
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3500 DONE!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 5,915
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Hm.....could be another bad HG on that one but did you bleed the system with the little 7mm bolt on the heater tube? Or did you just bleed it by leaving the reservoir cap off? Is there no heat coming out of the vents? When i had my 3400 the HG went around 90k....LIMG around 65k.
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2002 3400 & 3500 GL "Ruby"-->R.I.P. 163k. My first car. Put 130k on her.
2000 3500 GLS "Robin"-->Intake,Headers,Exhaust,H&R springs,KYB AGX,Sway bars,Strut bars and more
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04-22-2012, 09:08 PM
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#3
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billytheman1188
Hm.....could be another bad HG on that one but did you bleed the system with the little 7mm bolt on the heater tube? Or did you just bleed it by leaving the reservoir cap off? Is there no heat coming out of the vents? When i had my 3400 the HG went around 90k....LIMG around 65k.
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Sorry Billy, I should have mentioned that. Yes, I bled it via the brass fitting on the tube.
WhiteV6: Now, it was out of a 99 Alero. Hot air wasn't flowing out of the vents, but I backflushed the heater core, and now nice and warm. Wow, if it's another head gasket, I'm going to cry. Is there any way to verify short of tearing the whole darn thing apart if all the cylinders have compression, there is no "milk" in the oil, and no smoke blows out the tail pipe. And do you think it's just coincidental that it's behaving exactly the way the previous engine was?
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04-23-2012, 04:23 PM
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#4
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GX Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Canada/Québec/Montreal
Posts: 120
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crankycowboy
Sorry Billy, I should have mentioned that. Yes, I bled it via the brass fitting on the tube.
WhiteV6: Now, it was out of a 99 Alero. Hot air wasn't flowing out of the vents, but I backflushed the heater core, and now nice and warm. Wow, if it's another head gasket, I'm going to cry. Is there any way to verify short of tearing the whole darn thing apart if all the cylinders have compression, there is no "milk" in the oil, and no smoke blows out the tail pipe. And do you think it's just coincidental that it's behaving exactly the way the previous engine was?
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That is why i would rather rebuilt the current engine that you already know what the problem is than buy another one which you know nothing about
If i ever buy a used engine i would rebuilt it all before doing the swap
Anyhow could a clogged radiator do that?
(two engine same problem hmmm...?)
If not the rad then HG for sure... another warp head maybe?
Last edited by Goodman : 04-23-2012 at 04:31 PM.
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04-23-2012, 05:18 PM
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#5
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Aleromod part owner
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Far Northeast Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 18,199
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crankycowboy
With the cap off, at idle, I don't really notice any bubbles....however, if I raise the rpm to around 3k, it starts to bubble out.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crankycowboy
I just spoke with my buddy that was helping me on it, and he indicated that when it was cool...there were no issues with water pushing out....it was only when it was warm (both starting with cap off and with cap on while driving). What does that mean?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jawa
head gasket
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Exactly.
I had a bad HG on mine, just like yours. Clean oil, no issues, but when I would floor it coolant would puke all over from the overflow tube. Ugh what a mess.
My HG issue (sounds like your too) is that combustion gasses are passing thru into the water jackets, pushing all coolant out. 15 psi of coolant pressure is going to lose agaisnt the 150 psi of combustion in whichever chamber the HG passage is cracked.
Not an easy fix, not a difficult one either. Just pick up a MLS gasket from Ben at WOT-Tech and new head bolts and do it.
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33% ALEROMOD OWNER!!
2000 Olds Alero 3400 SFI 14.53 @ 94.93
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04-22-2012, 07:58 PM
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#6
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Wide Open Throttle
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Warsaw Indiana
Posts: 641
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130-150 sounds low for a 3400. If it isn't boiling in the block from air pockets, it is probably a bad head gasket on that engine as well. Was it out of a van by chance? Those tend to blow the rear head gaskets more commonly than the cars do. You have already replaced everything else that it could be from what I see.
Get a coolant pressure tester and see if the cooling system holds.
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04-22-2012, 08:04 PM
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#7
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Premier V.I.P. Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,979
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get a block tester (about 60 bucks) and test your coolant system for exhaust gases. at this point that kind of money might be worth saving the heatache.
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The dumbass that shows up randomly 10 years after selling the car.
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04-22-2012, 09:10 PM
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#8
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a.graham52
get a block tester (about 60 bucks) and test your coolant system for exhaust gases. at this point that kind of money might be worth saving the heatache.
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Well that's part of the problem....everytime I run the car, I have to add more water (yes I'm only using water at this point as it would be way too expensive to use coolant seeing it pushes it out every time I run it). Would it running for just a short time and losing most of the liquid be ok to test even though I would have just added the water?
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04-22-2012, 09:12 PM
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#9
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I drive a JEEP!
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Salisbury, Maryland
Posts: 6,388
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Maybe a dumb question here but have you check the reservoir cap...mine was the last piece of the puzzle for my coolant problems?
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04-22-2012, 09:19 PM
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#10
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lonnie
Maybe a dumb question here but have you check the reservoir cap...mine was the last piece of the puzzle for my coolant problems?
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Not a dumb question. Seems to be the source of a lot of overheating issues on these cars; however, the reservoir and cap are new.
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04-22-2012, 09:39 PM
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#11
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Its Beer Thirty
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Goodyear, AZ
Posts: 1,259
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I'd say there is still air in the system or head gasket.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daytona
And, yeah, I try to keep my expectations & standards really low. That's the only way to guarantee that I'll always exceed them.
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04-22-2012, 09:40 PM
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#12
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636 whp
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: AZ
Posts: 11,895
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unfortunately, it's probably the head gasket
milky oil/coolant is not visible most of the time. none of my head gasket issues have I ever encountered milky oil or coolant until it was taken apart.
smoke out the tailpipe is also not apparent unless it's severely blown.
also, water boils at 212° F, so regardless if there was a problem or not, it might still blow water out the reservoir and inefficiently cool the engine leading to warpage and more failure anyway due to boiling
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04-22-2012, 10:52 PM
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#13
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [ion] C2
unfortunately, it's probably the head gasket
milky oil/coolant is not visible most of the time. none of my head gasket issues have I ever encountered milky oil or coolant until it was taken apart.
smoke out the tailpipe is also not apparent unless it's severely blown.
also, water boils at 212° F, so regardless if there was a problem or not, it might still blow water out the reservoir and inefficiently cool the engine leading to warpage and more failure anyway due to boiling
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Ugh So would the suggestion be to tear it all down then? Just so frustrating that I'm back at square one after replacing the entire engine and so many other components.
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04-23-2012, 06:58 AM
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#14
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Premier V.I.P. Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,979
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [ion] C2
unfortunately, it's probably the head gasket
milky oil/coolant is not visible most of the time. none of my head gasket issues have I ever encountered milky oil or coolant until it was taken apart.
smoke out the tailpipe is also not apparent unless it's severely blown.
also, water boils at 212° F, so regardless if there was a problem or not, it might still blow water out the reservoir and inefficiently cool the engine leading to warpage and more failure anyway due to boiling
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if coolant in the system is boiling at 212 then there is a problem. coolant under pressure (water or mix) will not boil till a higher temp.
with a COLD engine, if you remove the coolant cap and run the engine does coolant come out or atleast a tone of bubbles coming into the tank?
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The dumbass that shows up randomly 10 years after selling the car.
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04-23-2012, 07:50 AM
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#15
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a.graham52
if coolant in the system is boiling at 212 then there is a problem. coolant under pressure (water or mix) will not boil till a higher temp.
with a COLD engine, if you remove the coolant cap and run the engine does coolant come out or atleast a tone of bubbles coming into the tank?
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With the cap off, at idle, I don't really notice any bubbles....however, if I raise the rpm to around 3k, it starts to bubble out.
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04-23-2012, 09:01 AM
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#16
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Premier V.I.P. Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 1,979
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crankycowboy
With the cap off, at idle, I don't really notice any bubbles....however, if I raise the rpm to around 3k, it starts to bubble out.
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is that with the engine cold before it gets a chance to warm up?
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The dumbass that shows up randomly 10 years after selling the car.
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04-23-2012, 10:03 AM
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#17
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a.graham52
is that with the engine cold before it gets a chance to warm up?
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If I remember correctly (at work now), even if I start it with the cap off, a gush of water will push out.
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04-22-2012, 11:13 PM
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#18
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636 whp
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: AZ
Posts: 11,895
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one way to check is to pull the spark plugs and observe whether they are wet (or if you can see coolant inside when you shine a light down there)
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04-23-2012, 07:51 AM
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#19
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GX Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [ion] C2
one way to check is to pull the spark plugs and observe whether they are wet (or if you can see coolant inside when you shine a light down there)
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I pulled all the plugs when I did a compression check and none had signs of wetness; nor fouling....all looked good.
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04-23-2012, 12:38 AM
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#20
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GLS member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Utica, Michigan
Posts: 2,227
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we used blue devil head gasket repair in my dad's 1998 chevrolet astro with a blown head gasket. we were going to need to replace the engine anyway because its so high mileage so we gave it a shot. the stuff worked like a charm. maybe you should give it a shot?
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