Question: Radiator related

[DeeJayy]

My car overheats when I either drive slow or in traffic or just with the engine on parked. My friend says its a clogged radiator so I did a flush, still overheats. Now I have to replace the radiator and all the hoses because now I have a huge leak and the thermostat, also my fans only turn on when I have the AC on, Does this sound correct? or am I missing something, BTW I have a 3.4 v6 engine. 2000 Oldsmobile Alero GLS

[JLw7123]

Sounds like the limg or lower intake manifold gasket. What color is the coolant. How many miles on the engine. I would check the color of the coolant. Also if the oil is milky on the oil cap it could be a bigger problem.

[DeeJayy]

The color is like a burgundy. I put dex cool red in for it when I flushed it and the reason why I mostly flushed it because I thought I clogged it when the prev owner put stop leak when it didnt have it and they didnt let the car run after they did. I just changed the oil about 2 weeks ago and its not watery or milky. Passed smog about 2 months ago with flying colors also.

[a.graham52]

what makes you think its over heating? you would be surprised how high the gauge will go and still be ok.

[RalphP]

DeeJayy - find someone with a full OBDII reader (or spring for one for your car - you can use a Bluetooth adapter and a free program for an Android phone, total can be under $30 that way!) and find out what temp the ECU is seeing from the car.

As a note - most of today's cars won't turn on the fans at ALL until the ECU sees 205F coolant temp. On my Malibu, that's about 3/4 of the way from "C" to "F", and getting darn close to the red mark ... YMMV, which is why you should monitor the ECU directly.

RwP

[mmorello82]

Our cars have a high and low speed on the fans. Check the low speed relay, in the fuse box under the hood

[billytheman1188]

what makes you think its over heating? you would be surprised how high the gauge will go and still be ok.

ehh.....if it goes over the 3/4 mark be worried....not normal. Even going above the half mark makes me nervous. My car pretty much stays pegged on the halfway mark or a little under....unless it's a super hot day then it goes up a little past the 1/2 mark when stopped.


Could be a leak....or air in the system....you try bleeding the system? (make sure you have enough coolant in the reservoir before and after bleeding. Also have you been checking the reservoir frequently? Are you losing coolant?

[zzyzzx]

Our cars have a high and low speed on the fans. Check the low speed relay, in the fuse box under the hood

I als think that they need to check their fans.

[DeeJayy]

a.graham52: It goes past my mid every time im on the streets, and when I turn my engine off its hotter than shit in there. So when I try to start it again it kind of hesitates.

RalphP: It's not normal though my car would never go that hot until that owner did it.

mmorello82: Alright ill check it and I'll get back to you.


billytheman1188: Yeah I never lost coolant til about a week ago and now the water just goes by fast. I fill it up with water everyday til I get my radiator and hoses. Also how do you bleed it? I looked it up and nothing really came up.

[Redog]

Do you see any coolant running down the side of the block? Sometimes the LIMG issue leaks coolant outside the block.

Try the air bleed first. If you have a 6 or 7mm socket and a spinner, it's an easy fix. I forget what size the bleeder is

[DeeJayy]

Redog: Na no coolant on the side of the block, where is the bleeder at by any chance?

[unchained01]

Bleeder is on the coolant tower. Left front

[Redog]

No It's on a black tube in front of the PS pump

[DeeJayy]

Looked it up and it said by the thermostat? Is that right?

[Redog]

Forgive the uglyness of my old engine pic, it doesn't look like this anymore.

It's under the wire in the circled part of the pic. It's a brass "bolt" Open it with the engine running and at operating temp, and be careful because it sprays out, don't get burned. No need to remove the bolt, just turn in a bit :coolio:

[DeeJayy]

You should see my engine pic ill put in later or tomorrow lol. That clears a lot up for me. Ill do it tomorrow after work. Thanks!!!!! I also ordered my radiator just in case it doesnt work.

[DeeJayy]

Welp. Bled it today and it stopped overheating.... TIL I parked and left it on. Kinda stressed out, But good news is that I got my new radiator today and getting the thermostat tomorrow. Pics of engine and radiator are here now.
http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/djsolano88/IMG629_zps74e57228.jpg

http://i777.photobucket.com/albums/yy53/djsolano88/IMG628_zps310d4deb.jpeg

[DeeJayy]

Any tips when I remove the old radiator and put the new one in? Also does the thermostat have to be torqued? My friend said he never torques his shit unless its for his tranny. He's done many swaps but in hondas and acuras.

[DeeJayy]

Oh and one more sorry lol Should I get the Failsafe or Duralast thermostat?

[03glgold]

if it is fine unless parked, and the fans aren't kicking on, then it is likely to be something related to that

[DeeJayy]

To the thermostat, radiator or both?

[03glgold]

to the fans not kicking on...if the fans aren't kicking on then there is nothing moving air through the radiator at idle

[DeeJayy]

I see now. Hopefully this week I change it all out and ill tell you guys how it went! Thanks!

[03glgold]

I am trying to say that there is about a 70% chance that you are replacing a fairly costly unnecessary part

EDIT: when I was having overheating problems though I am an ecotec, it was a bad temp sensor...For quite a while when my uncle had it, he was putting in water and it was constantly going low, I put in coolant when I got it and the level has remained the same for the past 2 years...replaced the sensor and there is only an issue when it is hot, but not enough to worry about...this is with probably a quarter of the fins folded over from when my uncle hit whatever he hit.

[DeeJayy]

Well when I had coolant in it which I still do I lost some and I'm not sure so I topped it off with water and I don't lose any water nor coolant.