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Van started overheating

Tiny
KINDALLNELSON
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE
  • 135,000 MILES
Van started overheating. Took it in. They changed the thermostat.
Continued to overheat. Took it someplace else who pulled it in the garage and said "You need a new motor" within 10 minutes.
Took it to a 3rd guy who flushed the radiator and bled the air out of the lines. It worked perfectly for half a day.
Has started overheating again.

Things that cool it off: Driving uphill, driving over 50mph, usually a good hard stomp of the brakes followed by speeding up again in "clean air" with no one in front of me. Sometimes shutting off the van and restarting it will cool it down (I do that a lot at stop lights right now so it doesn't idle).

Things that heat it up: Traffic, Idling, trying to use the heater
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Monday, December 3rd, 2012 AT 8:13 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
Check cooant level first. If full then when engine is warm shut off and check radiator for cold spots. If there are no cold spots have pressure checked for internal leaks like head/intake gasket. If there are cold spots you need a radiator, it shold be same temp all accross it with engine warm.
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Monday, December 3rd, 2012 AT 8:48 PM
Tiny
HOMER1967
  • MECHANIC
  • 875 POSTS
It sounds to me like you either have a clogged up radiator or your coolant fan is not working.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 AT 1:20 AM
Tiny
KINDALLNELSON
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Coolant level is fine, although I noticed when the car is running, extra coolant seems to be in the overflow container. Bubbles are coming out of the tube from the radiator to that tank.

I felt the radiator. Was I supposed to feel around on the front of it? Like where the grille is? Because that whole thing felt cool. The van had just red-lined before I shut it off and the radiator didn't feel warm at all. It was the same temp all the way across though.

The radiator was clogged until guy #3 flushed it on Saturday. But we were fairly certain he got it all cleaned out.

I will see what I can find about checking out the coolant fan.

After the radiator flush it was still being weird so I stopped at AutoZone and the manager started working on my car right in the lot. He opened the bleeders and made sure I had enough fluid. Told me to call him and let him know if it worked because he was curious. And that is when it worked great for awhile. The next morning it was back to the same as before though.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 AT 1:32 AM
Tiny
HOMER1967
  • MECHANIC
  • 875 POSTS
I think it is time to go to a shop and have a leak down test or cobustion gas test performed, you may have a blown headgasket. It sounds like it is ok as long as the air is bled out but the air keeps returning which is a pretty good indication of a head gasket issue
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 AT 2:52 AM
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
I aggreee with homer thinkit's aleaking gasket, also partstore popel are not mechancs they don't work on them for a living we do.
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 AT 2:13 PM
Tiny
KINDALLNELSON
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I knew he wasn't a mechanic. But after seeing 3 mechanics, he was the one who made it run right for a short time. So I wanted to make sure I was giving you all the facts. I'll go get it checked out and let you know. I was hoping it was just a circulation issue. :-(
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 AT 2:46 PM

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