Overheating? HELP!!!!?

Question

Hello, I have a 98 chevy cavalier that has had serious overheating problems, I have had the motor in the fan , the water pump, the temperature gauge and the air take temperature sensor raplace. When I got my temperture gauge fixed the mechanic said that the radiator looked fine, but that he notice that I had the wrong color coolant (green) and I should have orange. Every time that I drive the car even in short trips >10miles on summer days the temperature gauge reaches the end of the white (normal) line and one time has went a little further over but has never gotten to the point of the Red Danger Line. what else could be wrong with this stupid car?, Could it be the wrong color coolant?

Im sorry, I got the thermostat replaced not the temperature gauge.

Answer 1

have a lower temp. thermastst install

Answer 2

There are any number of things that can cause a car to overheat, but it is almost certainly not the color of your coolant. Yes there are green and orange coolants, and even a pink one that is used in RVs. Typically the orange variety has a longer life, and contains some properties that make it more suitable for use in certain types of alloy engines. However, it is not a more efficient coolant in terms of taking away heat from the engine.

The fact is that most of the heat dissipation that is done in your cooling system is done by the water, not the antifreeze. The antifreeze contains corrosion inhibitors and is formulated to prevent the coolant from freezing in the winter and boiling over in the summer, as it has certain chemical properties that give it a broader operating range than water before it does either. However, it if not nearly so good as water at actually conducting temperature out of the engine to be cooled in the radiator. Accordingly, it is important to have the right mixture of water and antifreeze in your system for your particular climatic region.

In addition, here are some other possibilities to look at:

Radiator Cap--Even though most cars these days have an overflow tank where coolant is actually added, many still have a radiator cap and if the cap has a bad seal it will not allow the cooling system to maintain proper pressure.

Radiator--Even if it is not leaking it may be blocked with sludge from having allowed your cooling system's coolant to go too long. Antifreeze loses its capacity to inhibit corrosion with age, and if corrosion has built up on the cooling journals inside the radiator it can serve as an insulator and prevent proper heat exchange.

Thermostat--This is essentially a temperature sensitive valve that opens when it reaches a desired temperature. As engines tend to run best within a given range of temperature, the thermostat may be manufactured to open at, say, 190 degrees farenheit. When the coolant in the engine reaches that point, the thermostat opens to admit cooler coolant from the radiator to the engine and this flushes the hot coolant back to the radiator to be cooled again. Then the thermostat closes and the process repeats itself over and over again as you drive. Typically, however, thermostats are designed to fail in the open position, in which case the coolant would be able to flow freely in circulation and no overheating would occur. Still, it is possible that it is stuck partly closed, restricting flow. One easy way to check this is when you get in the car in the morning turn it on and watch the temperature guage very carefully. If it climbs to operating temperature and then drops back slightly it will signal that it is operating properly, as the drop would be indicative of the colder coolant from the radiator pouring into the engine past the temperature sensor attached to the guage. (Note: This will not work if you have been running the car before this test, as the guage is not very sensitive and the coolant in the radiator will not be so very much cooler than that in the engine to produce the a drop in the guage that you will be able to discern.)

Water pump--The water pump is a belt-driven propellor that circulates coolant through the system. A defective pump would not circulate the coolant of course, but almost always a defective pump will also leak and you will see coolant on the ground. If you are not seeing coolant then nine times out of ten the pump is fine.

Cooling fans--Your car has at least one and possibly two electic fans to blow air through the radiator, though for the most part these only operate when you are sitting still. The idea is that if you are moving you already have enough air moving through the radiator and the fans are not needed. Still, one of the fans has a temperature switch on it that senses when the coolant in the radiator is getting too hot and this then turns on the fan. The other fan, if you have two, is a supplemental fan to help cool the radiator when your air conditioning is on. Still, if you are overheating while driving, unless you are driving very slowly in stop and go traffic, it is not likely the fans or the switches.

Finally, there is the head gasket. As I gather from your description you are not terribly adept at auto mechanics, I will not go into detail about what the head gasket is, other than to note that if it is blown it can cause a car to overheat. If you require more detail on this please feel free to contact me at [e-mail]. Suffice it to say that you can usually determine a head gasket is blown because it will evidence itself in one or more of three ways: 1) you will see drops of oil or brownish sludge floating in the coolant in the radiator and/or the coolant overflow tank; 2) you will see coolant or muddy brown sludge on the oil dipstick when you pull it out to check the oil; and 3) you will see white smoke coming from the tailpipe when you are driving the car (not just in the morning when you start it--that is simply condensation).

Answer 3

I see 2 possibilities.
You haven't had the thermostat replaced.

I had this happen to me on a GM 3.8L last fall.
The water pump went bad. I replaced the water pump with a new one. Everything worked fine for a month or so. Then the car started overheating again. I thought "It can't be the water pump, I just replaced it". I went through the rest of the cooling system and could find nothing wrong.

I finally decided to remove the water pump. This water pump has the impeller pressed onto the shaft. It had worked itself loose and was slipping. The impeller would turn fast enough to work, but not fast enough to sufficiently cool the motor.

The parts store exchanged the water pump for free. The replacement pump solved my problems.

The moral is, even new parts can be defective. If all else fails, don't over look the new parts you just installed.

Answer 4

Wrong COLOR coolant means wrong coolant altogether. Take the car in & get a flush & fill with the correct coolant in there. It is also normal for the temperature gauge to register a little high if it's really hot outside. It sounds a little weird but run the heater for a little bit & it should take some of the heat from your engine. A friend's stepdad told me that one & it worked for a little while.

Answer 5

Coolant is always green! Where did the mechanic get the idea coolant was orange? You did not mention the actual temperature sensor in the radiator.

Answer 6

yea my brother have a 2000 chevy cavalier he changed to a low temp thermostate flushed the coolant made the fan work all day by making a seperate switch ... and i use to augh he took it to the dealer they told him it's a temp sencor and all that bull **** that goes with it he end up paying 120 for just diagnose.... haha i was still laughing his freind that said he is a mechanic told himput more coolant in teh system have was i still laughing yeah yeah.
it's a comment since oh yea he changed his water pump a month later too cause of thermostate that he put on ... i was still laughing but before i was telling him why don't u put good f-u-c-k-i-n-g oil in that car and said oil is same . so one day i told him here i bought u good oil 4 dolalrs a quartchanged the oil and i changed it a 1000 miles he oil came dark black then changed again at 2000 miles then again at 2500 miles all then the car temp start slowing and slowing down so u next time all that build up in the engine that produce by cheap *** oil is worth it ,... good luck ... and yeah i that mechanic guy went to pep boys for engine flush and now his car said can't get heat in the winter .... unles he warm it up for like 20 minutes what a smart mechanic was making fun of me .. hahah

Answer 7

Flush the radiator and replace the coolant

Answer 8

Try to change the Thermostat, the color of the coolent has nothing to do with over heating

Answer 9

not sure it's the coolant color,
maybe the radiator need to be cleaned inside
replace it or take it off and remove the rust inside it

Answer 10

could be radiator is clogged or the lil openings (where air goes though) are bent
or could be your radiator cap
but u said you had the fans replaced but do they come on???
raise your hood when its hot and runningg and see if there on
if not could be a fuse or relay

Answer 11

I would start by replacing the radiator cap.....