Car help needed

ben62670

OK I am pretty good with mechanics, and I am pretty sure I know the answer. Well this morning I took my daughter to school, and her school is less than 2 miles away. I watch gages like I do the speedo. By the time I got to her school the temp gage was only reading 130. I was thinking how cool it is to live so close to the school. Well a nice quick drop off, and by the time I reached home the gage was in the red. Well Ash was sick tonight so I wanted to make sure that the car had plenty of coolant in it. So I fired it up, and after a little warm up time(cap off) the thing was popping out the radiator pretty good.

TouchOfEvil

possible you blew a head gasket? what kind of car is it? any smoke from the tailpipe at all?
if not i'd say look at the thermostat for problems. i know on GM's you can get air in the system and the stat will not open. you just gotta squeeze the hose while it's running to work the air out.

Face

Check your oil.

Does it look like a chocolate milkshake?

ben62670

Yeah I was scared it may be the head gasket. It is a 96 Pontiac Grand Prix V6. The pipe had a little bit of water, but that could have been condensation. I think you may be onto something with the air pocket. It sounded like it was banging pretty hard, but air in a system can do that. I should pop out the thermostat, and test it. I have a compression tester, but the back plug are a nightmare to get out.
Thanks
Ben

ben62670

Face wrote: »

Check your oil.

Does it look like a chocolate milkshake?

Did that check first thing;) Been there done that. No milk in the oil:)

Face

Is it a 3800? If there's air in the system, there should be a small valve on top of the thermostat housing. With the car cold, remove the cap and open the valve. Be careful not to turn it too many times, there aren't many threads and it's easy to lose. Start the car and let it warm up. If there is any air in the system, bubbles should come out of the small hole in the valve. Add coolant as necessary. Once you have a steady stream out of the bleed valve and the coolant level is good, close everything up and you're good to go.

ben62670

Its a 3.1 AKA 3100

ben62670

Has the bleeder, but its pissing some seroius steam. I think the HG is gone:(

Systems

Ben,
check to see if the water is flowing in the radiator

could be a stuck thermostat

Head gasket will have 2 signs:
1. smoke out the tailpipe like a freight train

B. Milky oil

b 1/2. Runs rough from missing cylinder where gasket is blown

Chuck


PS...check the thermostat to see if it is opening.....flowing water thru the radiator.

on that engine the water pump impeller can come loose and not pump water also.

ben62670

Answer your phone!

Systems

I did...LOL

Chuck

obieone

You may have a blocked core in the radiator? NOT a monkey, but it happened to me.
Or, the impeller busted off the water pump?

engtaz

Yes, check the flow. If it's flowing then check to make sure the electric fan is working. If no flow then check: If no water is leaking other than from the radiator then your possibilities are the thermostat or the water pump.

engtaz

heiney9

Can you smell the "sweet" aroma of coolant when outside the car? When my head gasket went I could smell coolant every time I stopped the car for about 3 weeks prior. When mine finally went it was steaming like crazy. Never did detect "milky" oil. Mine was a very small failure, but still a failure. As soon as it started steaming it was off to the mechanic. $1300 later like brand new. Not a Pontiac, FYI.

I'd check everything else before I'd go jumping to the conclusion it's a HG, unless that's a common weak point for your model car.

GL and glad to hear Ashley is doing better.

H9

concealer404

Make sure your upper AND lower radiator hoses are both getting hot.

joeparaski

It doesn't sound good. If the temp gets that hot in just 2 miles, and there is no coolant missing, it's either a stuck thermostat or a head gasket. Usually the head gasket, because even with a stuck thermostat it shouldn't reach the boiling point in just 2 miles. Water pump impeller failures are pretty rare.

But of course, the first thing to replace is the thermostat and make sure those electric fans are running.

GM's are notorious for their intake gasket failures too.

Joe

billbillw

Another possibility is the temperature sending unit is bad, but when it reads high, its best to eliminate the other possibilities first.

Most likely: bad thermostat or air in the system. I think a blown head gasket would give you other tell tale signs.

disneyjoe7

I was trying hard to stay out of this one, but one of my last GM products ever stand...

I owned a 3.1 Chevy which had a cracked block. You need to due a pressure check on the radiator and do a compression check on the cylinders. Good Luck


Little or no cash? Major issues with a 12 year old car hmm.... Porter Seal

ND13

Ah...just trade her in on a Kia.;):D

steveinaz

Also check your radiator cap--they are an integral part of the cooling system now--seriously. I changed out a thermostat on a Neon years ago--turned out to be a bad cap.

MikeC78

There is certain pressure(lb) rating for the radiator cap on your vehicle, they go bad over time as Steve has mentioned.

I think someone else mentioned it... What does the radiator fluid look like, is the radiator plugged up??

Jstas

Radiator caps have a pressure rating and if you use the wrong pressure rating, it can cause overheating. The cooling system needs to build pressure to work right. The pressure the system builds up helps keep the water from boiling over and improves it's thermal efficiency.


If you are overheating that quick, either you have a cooling system problem like what was already mentioned with a bad cap or even something like a collapsed radiator hose. That can be caused by a stuck thermostat. It's usually the lower hose that collapses. Alot of cars have spring loaded hoses to prevent that but older cars that are as new as 1998 don't always have that. But a head gasket is a very real possibility but the 3.1's are notorious for eating intake gaskets too and they can cause pressure leaks.

ben62670

Thanks guys. I am taking a break from all this. I will hit it tomorrow;)
Ben