Cavalier overheating again.?

Question

When I bought this car it came with a 1000 mile warranty.Just like typical, when my warranty was up- problems started. What is the biggest &basically the only problem? Overheating! Horrible, it would overheat to the point that it would redline on the temp gauge. Coolant loss, 10 foot puddles out in front of the car and one BIG headache! Everywhere i went - I had to make sure I had plenty of coolant. Took it to a mechanic. The hose had a gash in it.. they replaced the hoses. It's fixed! No, its OVERHEATING AGAIN! What the hell? Changed the temp sensor. Ex kept driving it, and let it overheat to the point where it wouldn't start. Cracked the block. Engine = Seized. Total revamping went on. New Engine. New Heater Core. New fluids.New brakes.New thermostat & gasket, new spark plugs, new temp sensor. But its doing it again - overheating,coolant boiling and gushing out the overflow hose! Water pump was fine when the new engine went in.im frustrated. Its costing more than its worth! HELP!!

Fan is coming on, but a lil late... but still coming on. Its overheats period, driving and sitting...

The fan comes on, but it comes on a little late. Its still overheating while its driving, or sitting in traffic, or idling. I know this car is a piece of ****, but its all I have and I cannot afford another car, so dont keep reminding me how crappy cavaliers are. thanx.

Answer 1

this is a common problem with thoes **** boxes. I've had to deal with 5 at work with the same problem in the last few weeks, all were missing the lower air dam. We have foudn that is a common problem with them missing the air dam because they break and fall off, I would look there. Sunfires adn Cavilers are just overall bad cars. many design flaws.

Answer 2

You are having a bad time of it, enough to put you of cars for ever but lets see if we can't sort out this problem for you, firstly i suspect your first engine had a blown head gasket, Okay knowall you say bring it on, well what happens when a head gasket blows is that the radiator water is forced from the radiator into the radiator overflow bottle [if you still have one] then onto the ground, this increase in pressure is caused by the compression escaping from the cylinder's and into the cooling system, this causes the engine to overheat thru the loss of cooling fluid and when you stop the car you can hear the water boiling away and if you had removed the radiator cap well you would have been very lucky not to have been scalded by the steam, now after a cooling down period for you and the car you probably would have had to add quite a lot of water to fill the radiator. am i right so far? now one of the problems is that when an engine has this problem often the temperature guage reads normal or if it did get into the red this was only temporary and by the time you have stopped the car it's back to normal and also the electric cooling fan works intermitantly, this is all because of the drop in the water level, these sensors that send the signal to the fan and the guage operate only in water and become unreliable when exposed to air. Now what is wrong with this new engine which i suspect is a second hand replacement so it's not really a new engine just new to this car. The symptons sound very much like your old engine, it is good shop practise[ which was religiously done in my shop] whenever a car came in with a blown head gasket the radiator was removed and cleaned and from what i read this has not been done. one other thing i should mention is a thermostat stuck shut similar symptons to the above but no water loss and the engine overheats with in a couple of miles. one of the things that annoy me is that often the mechanic does not take the trouble to find out what caused the overheating in the first place he just dives in and replaces the engine, who knows the [could be blocked]radiator may have damaged the original engine and now the replacement engine is exhibiting the same symptons. you have already spent a bomb and now it's crunch time should i fix or ditch the car the ball is in your court and it's not a nice position to be in when you trusted your car with so called proffessionals and the result is anything but proffessional.

Answer 3

Sounds as if the radiator is plugged internally or airflow is being block going to radiator. If it stay cool over the road but not in the city it could be your fan.

Answer 4

radiator,cracked reservoir, thermostat installed upside down, freeze plug. Water pump and all water and heater hoses should have been replaced with the engine replacement.

Answer 5

All this work and damage to the engine and no one ever looked at the radiator ?? Don't go to a repair shop go to a radiator shop and get it checked and cleaned (rodded out)

Answer 6

i own a repair shop,and it sounds like you and this car have a bad history together,,i had on like that i think it hated me,,anyway you may have some blockage in the hoses from something,either that or your mechanic just screwed it up,,because with all that money spent on it,and it still messing up,,somebody had to make a mistake,,try taking it to a different mechanic,and getting his opinion on it,,normally i can solve these problems,,but yours has me wondering,,good luck,i hope you find it.

Answer 7

what about the electric fan,does it come on,when it gets hot?you might check that,since you checked everything else.also have the radiator cap checked.it might not be holding the pressure.ok,try this.when it get hot(not enough to burn yourself)with the engine off,put your hand on the radiator,next to the fan,and see if theres cold spots on the radiator.if there is,then its partly plugged up.good luck,hope i could be some service to you.

Answer 8

Get a new radiator..... and maybe cooling fan..... but im leaning towards a bad/clogged radiator.