Overheating?

Tiny
TERRI W
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 CHEVROLET MALIBU
  • 2.2L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 197,000 MILES
I was previously on but have to make a new thread on a new problem, so my car is overheating when I drive, someone told me it was the water pump I'm trying to narrow it down. I sent a picture I don't see any water leaking around pump. I can hear some light whining noise, but it didn't do it all the time. I was just wondering why there was water seeping through that panel?
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Thursday, July 18th, 2024 AT 11:36 AM

7 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi,

Is there evidence of coolant on the passenger's side floor or anything inside the vehicle? The heater core can be leaking, or you could simply have a hose to the heater core leaking.

What I would recommend is to pressure test the vehicle. This is done when the engine and coolant are cool, so it is a lot safer.

Here is a link that shows how it's done:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

Is the engine overheating because it becomes low on coolant? Also, does it overheat at highway speeds, or does it seem limited to stop and go traffic? If it is stop and go traffic, pay attention to see if the radiator cooling fans are running when it starts to overheat.

Let me know what you find.

Take care,

Joe
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Thursday, July 18th, 2024 AT 7:59 PM
Tiny
TERRI W
  • MEMBER
  • 37 POSTS
Yes, it started overheating on the highway. I was about 6 miles from home. It went almost in the red and would go back down and up all the way home. I haven't driven it until today and only drove a couple blocks and the radiator hose to engine was so hot top hose and bottom hose also hot.
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Thursday, July 18th, 2024 AT 10:26 PM
Tiny
TERRI W
  • MEMBER
  • 37 POSTS
I am just thinking of what I should be explaining sorry I'm a 61 young lady so bear with me. The night I got home a fan ran a little bit after I turned off the car. Would that be the radiator fan only 1 fan was still running after engine was turned off. The right one I think.
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Thursday, July 18th, 2024 AT 10:56 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,149 POSTS
When the engine is cold, open the radiator to see if it is low on coolant. Also, where you are pointing on the image it is hard to say because there is nothing there that would leak coolant, I can say though the water pump could be bad which can throw coolant so that is possible.

https://youtu.be/GSE9skKnOgY?si=BzeRWgSn4ffIrvut

The cooling fan will run longer if the engine is too hot. Do not open the radiator cap when the engine is hot or warm.
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Saturday, July 20th, 2024 AT 9:56 AM
Tiny
TERRI W
  • MEMBER
  • 37 POSTS
Okay, I'm going to try to start over here my car has always ran a bit warm in stop and go traffic and on the highway it always ran normal I recently replaced the coil pack in module after I started it and it worked good so I took it on the highway about 7 miles and I noticed how hot it got and I got to my designation was about 2 hours I checked my water when I left it's pretty low I had about four bottles of water I had in my car and I put it in I headed home about 7 miles and it was fluctuating all the way home I also had my heater full blast I made it home and when I turned my car off my fan stayed on for a good 10 minutes or so and I never seen any steam or anything like smoke or anything out of my exhaust. The next day I topped it off with 50/50 Dex Cool but when I did do that I did have to add about a 2 quarts and so I tried driving it again and went around two blocks and it started getting overheating again that quick and the main house from the radiator to the engine was so hot I think harder than what it normally would have been my own opinion and a small hose in the back of the motor that went in to the panel back of the wall it was much more hotter than the than bigger one in the front and the low hose on the right was hot but it wasn't my as hot as the other two. And how I got the idea of a water pump someone told me that's what it was and I have never seen any evidence of water around my water pump or on the ground so I'm not sure but it doesn't seem there's a lot like water circulating through the engine from the radiator and I even had someone tell me that there was water flowing through there but I honestly did not feel or think anything was going through there because cold or hot the hosr felt like the same kind of pressure to me. Okay, let's go from here okay, lol thanks.
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Sunday, July 21st, 2024 AT 12:22 AM
Tiny
TERRI W
  • MEMBER
  • 37 POSTS
One more thing, checked oil no water or sludge, it was good.
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Sunday, July 21st, 2024 AT 12:26 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,149 POSTS
The water pump is inside the engine so it would leak externally, I think you may have a blown head gasket or a bad thermostat. You can drain a little coolant out of the radiator and use this guide to help confirm the issue. You can rent the kit from the auto parts store for cheap or free.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

If it tests okay here is how to change the thermostat out. Here is a generic guide to help you step by step with instructions in the diagrams below to show you how on your car:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-thermostat

Check out the images (below). Please let us know what happens.

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Sunday, July 21st, 2024 AT 12:41 PM

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