Engine Overheating

does the coolant fan come on? does the vehicle lack power when driving. it does have a rev limiter. did you remove the rad cap and check level there?

[quote:c9e4659c70="mastertechtim"]does the coolant fan come on? does the vehicle lack power when driving. it does have a rev limiter. did you remove the rad cap and check level there?[/quote:c9e4659c70]

No real power issues. The two fans do activate, but it still heats up very rapidly. Coolant is full, but could be old.

i would start by replacing the thermostat first. thats the logical problem and cheapest to do. let me know how you make out after the thermostat

[quote:90148eb1a9="mastertechtim"]i would start by replacing the thermostat first. thats the logical problem and cheapest to do. let me know how you make out after the thermostat[/quote:90148eb1a9]

Thanks...that's what I was thinking- I used to be able to change thermostats on the older models. I went and bought one, then realized with the transverse mounted engine you have to pull the whole throttle control/air intake assembly just to get to the 2 bolts where the thermostat is mounted - unsure I trust my mechanic skills that much to not mess something else up. Looks like I'm headed to Pep Boys or someone like that. Crap.

yes you have to take the intake off, then you can reach the bolts with an extender. not really difficult. have faith in yourself. intakes are easy to take off and put back on. just be sure to flush er out really good before putting the new one on. you may want to check your hoses while you're at it. the clamps they use for them dont last forever, they get brittle...

The car goes about two miles and the the coolant needle goes way up and heater is still cold. then all of a sudden the needle drops and the the heater works. sometimes it then goes hot and the can even over flow. The thermos stat has been changed twice but that does not seem to help. My local repairman says I should junk it out. do you have any suggestions?

Which engine? And have any tests been done to see what is wrong?

CHEVY 99 IS OVERHEATING!! I PUT A LITTLE WATER IN IT THE 1ST TIME IT HAPPENED, AND IT RAN OKAY FOR A DAY GOING SHORT DISTANCES. LATER THE SAME DAY, I WAS GETTING ON A LONGER STRETCH OF ROAD, AND GOING FASTER, AND IT OVERHEATED AGAIN. I'm not very good with checking my water/coolant levels. I just got car out of shop less than 2 weeks ago for turning off while I was idling.

What's the question and symptoms?

what does it sound like is causing the overheat? Could it be okay now that it is full of coolant and running fine? Do you recommend trying anything I haven't mentioned above?

You haven't mentioned anything. How much water did you have to add? How long could it have been low? Do you see white smoke from the tail pipe? Does the radiator fan turn on intermittently? Does it only overheat when stopped in traffic or does it happen at highway speeds too? Is it not overheating at all now that you added water? What happens to the temperature of the air from the heater when the engine runs hot? Does the air burn your hand or is it rather cool? Do you see any puddles underneath the front of the car where you park it?

These are the kinds of things a mechanic would check to make a diagnosis. Since we're on a computer, you're going to have to provide all those details and observations.

I added coolant only, and an entire unopened jug, until it was totally full. It could have been low for quite a while. There is no smoke coming from tail pipe, no puddles.Radiator fan seems to be running accurately. It does not overheat in stopped traffic, but it did once I got onto the highway. Since I added coolant, it has not overheated, but I only traveled approx. 10 miles to get home.Haven't had the air on, so not sure about that.

Not referring to the air conditioning. If it overheats again, feel the air temperature from the heater. If it is really hot, at least we know it's circulating which means the coolant is going to the radiator. If the temperature is not hot enough, lack of circulation is the problem and that can be due to low coolant level.

You should not fill the reservoir to the top, just to the "max" line on the side. Most certainly there was some air in the cooling system so some of what you added went in there when you stopped the engine and it cooled down. It sounds like the cooling system and fan are working properly, and loss of coolant was the cause of the overheating. Fan problems will cause overheating only at slow speeds. A radiator plugged on the outside with a butterfly collection will cause overheating at higher speeds.

The thing to do now is keep an eye on the coolant level in the reservoir. It will go up shortly after stopping the engine because the heat is still going into the coolant and causing it to expand. After about a half hour the level will drop quite a bit but it should stay above the "min" mark.

If the level drops a noticeable amount in a few weeks or less, dye can be added to see where it's going. After driving a few days, you search with a black light including at the tail pipe. The dye will show up as a bright yellow stain. If it takes a month or more for the level to drop a quart, what leaks out could be evaporating fast enough to not leave a puddle. The dye will show that up too.

Also check at the 4" long rubber hose hanging down on the passenger side of the firewall under the hood. You might have to crawl underneath to see it. The open end will be formed into a thin slot. If you see dye there, the heater core is leaking. Typically that will get worse real fast and won't leave you guessing. Dye at the tail pipe means a head gasket is leaking. When that gets bad enough, you'll see white smoke from the exhaust.

husband was driving car home from work. stated that all of sudden coolant light came on, gauge went to red area and steam was coming from engine. coolant was on ground when he pulled over. He had no problem at all driving it that morning and only smelled antifreeze when he got out after overheated. does this sound like hose or thermostat. car is old 1999 and has many miles. Hope not very expensive to fix.

sounds like hose. may have been caused by thermostat but not likely.

either case should not be too expensive. but you dont say what expensive to you is?

I had the same problem but it wasn't alot of coolant on the ground it turned out that my water pump went out and was flowing backwards.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 123000 miles

My grandma has had this car since she bought it at the dealership. She gave it to me since it had the overheating problem. Before I got it, she got a whole new transmission and heating/AC system thinking that was the problem. I got it and it was overheating still so we replaced the thermostat and radiator. It worked for a little while but then it would overheat again. I put water in it since it was empty so that worked makin me think I solved it but nope. It disappears and I don't see any visual leaks anywhere. When it overheats, the coolant has air bubbles, radiator is cold but the engine sounds like its boiling. Eveything else in that car is fine except this one little problem. Please help me, thank you.

there could be several problems, like a faulty water pump,something simple like a bad radiator cap. or a plugged heater core, you should have it pressure checked, then they can determine where your problem is, most people would automatically assume a bad head gasket, but that usually is accompanied by bad performance and even white smoke coming from the exhaust

I have a Chevy Lumina that has been overheating. I've changed the thermostat and flushed the system. Local parts store said it has bleeder valves on it that need bled. How do I do that and do you think that may be the problem? Also does it matter which anti freeze goes in?

Use Prestone 50/50 mix the green stuffs

Check if it has an airbleed screw-if so open it up and remove the resevoir bottle cap, now put coolant in it untill it comes out of the airbleed screw then close the screw.Now start it up and put heater at high-let it idle till it comes up to temperature-keep an eye on the resevoir keep it fill at all times, once the upper hose gets too hot-stop you're done

I have a 99 Lumina. In the past year, I lose engine coolant slowly. When the engine gets hot, I turn the air on and cools. Silly? But, lately, I'm losing coolant faster. And engine gets hot quick. I would also know the engine is getting hot because heat didn't work, and cool air was luke warm. Then the air kicks in. Last night, I did lose a whole tank of coolant. I filled it again this morning, and made it to work. Any ideas? Thank you!

The first thing you need to do is pressure test the cooling system and determine where the leak is. This engine is notorious for leaking intake manifold gaskets

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

Well I finally took your suggestion and tore down the engine. What I found was lower intake gasket split and leaking just above the trans bell housing and decided to pull the rear cylinder head off also. What I found there was I think cylinder #2 definately is burning coolant, this cyl. is extreamly clean and wet compared to the other two that have carbon build up.
I could not find where the coolant is entering from, I inspected the Head, Gasket and Cylinder walls. The only suppision I have is a vertical white line on the cylinder wall and I sent a pic.
What I don't understand is before the tear down I did a pressure test on all cylinders and they all held pressure about (100 psi) for about 2o minutes each. How can I find where the coolant is coming from.

Sorry, but we didn't get the picture. As far as coolant getting into the cylender, it either comes from an intake leak, headgasket, or a cracked head / block. THere are no other ways for it to get into the cylender.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 152000 miles

I replaced the intake manifold gasget and now when i drive after about 10 min the temp gauge goes to about 180 to 200 is this the normal driving temp?

Yes it is.
Your thermostat opens around 195.

Heater problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 139000 miles

my car temp gets really high then the temp light comes on then i hear some flapping by the gas pedal and firewall then the temp goes back to normal for awhile then rises back up.i have the heater on but its cold when i hear the flapping noise the air changes it gets warm for a little bit then back to cold.i never had a problem with my heat it was always hot now its cold and car temp gets high please help.

You have air in your cooling system. That's why your heater doesn't get hot.

When you hear the "flapping" noise, that's because when your rev your engine, the water pump speeds up and forces the air bubbles out of the way. Then your heater will get hot until it the heater core fills up with air again.

There's an underlying cause why there's air in your system. You'll have to find it.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 97472 miles
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i have oil leaking into my rad and i am not sure what this is from ....can u help

it does not overheat

Check the transmission fluid level if low that is the oil you see. The transmission cooling tank in radiator is leaking into coolant.

This is more than likely Tranny Fluid from the Transmission Cooling tank. If so, you will want this to be resealed and have the radiator flushed numerous times. You will also want to replace all of the hoses involved as the tranny fluid eats through the rubber.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic
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I just bought a 99 chevy lumina a few months ago it seems to be losing coolant it doesn't seem to be leaking (It doesn't show up on my driveway) it isn't in the oil or the transmission fluid. I was wondering about the intake manifold, is there any way to check?

get a pressure check done. a bad head gasket can make coolant vanish as well. i had a cutlass that drank up the coolant, turned out to be a cracked block. doh!!!
but get it tested, it could be a simple solution...

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 200,00 miles

sorry for spelling..where does it go..putting in a new one...the theromostat

Welcome, my info showed the above location, 3.1L engine.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 142000 miles

I bought my car over the summer noticed it used a little more antifreeze then it should, but now that its winter where i live its using a lot of antifreeze. What could be the problem?

If the coolant isn't leaking out on the ground, then it's leaking inside of the motor.

Check your oil. If it's a milky white, then the intake gasket is blown and the coolant is leaking into the oil.

If not, then you have a leaking head gasket and it's leaking out of the tail pipe.

As cheap as your motor is, I'd buy a used one with low miles. (If you can find one)

It'll be about the same price as fixing your motor, but you'll have a lot more reliability. And used motors usually come with a 12 month/mile warranty.

Engine Cooling problem
1999 Chevy Lumina 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 160000 miles

I have a 1999 Chevy Lumina. I have engine coolant in my oil. It sometimes runs hot and the heater does not work. What type of problem could this be?
Thanks

Welcome to the forum, there are service bulletins about the intake manifold gasket causing oil/coolant leak. I can't be sure that is your problem, just a thought.