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I have a problem with my car overheating. Wednesday my car overheated and antifreeze came pouring out of the overfill hose. After it overheated one time it was drivable HOWEVER the thermostat in the dash kept rising and falling like crazy. The heat would cut in and out with that rising and falling. Yesterday the car overheated and the antifreeze gushed out the overfill line again and I have no heat. The temp is perfect when car is just idoling, but raises quickly when car accelerates. There is no antifreeze in the oil and no excessive smoke out the tailpipe so I am kinda ruling out head gasket. I am thinking it is the thermostat stuck closed but I am hoping somebody could help me figure this out before I get repaired. It was below 0 for the past 5 days and was parked outside. Please help me!

2007-02-09 07:39:37 · 10 answers · asked by BioFreeze 2 in Cars & Transportation Car Makes Chevrolet

If it gushing out antifreeze out the overfill hose could it be that the pump is out? Or what other issues could it be? I was just thinking the thermostat was stuck closed so it wasn't allowing antifreeze into the engine.

2007-02-09 08:02:11 · update #1

10 answers

1. First thing is the cheap fix. Change your thermostat. In cold weather, you want the higher temp thermostat. If your problem continues then next.

2. See if you have fans behind your radiator. IF you do, are they running. Then either the fan motor is out. Hot wire to engine battery directly to see if they run or not. If they do then your fan thermostat is out or faulty.

3. The constant gushing back and fourth sounds like your Radiator is clogged up. I had the exact same problem. For some reason, you radiator is clogged up. I had about 75% of the bottom radiator tubes clogged. That was why my car was running hot and the temperature going up and down like a see saw. I did this at the last fix, after replacing thermostat and water pump. The guy showed me how clogged up the radiator was when he took it apart. Now with the internet, I find it better to get a new radiator then to get it rebuilt. At least the new one has a lifetime warranty. And I am a cheap skate. I replace my Ford Explorer radiator bought thru the internet, about $60 cheaper than auto zone and life time warranty too. But I have to make sure not to lose receipt.

2007-02-09 10:01:24 · answer #1 · answered by Big C 6 · 0 0

I think your original problem was a low coolant level from more than likely a bad intake gasket( very common and under an extended warranty, 7/70). Once the car overheated, even though you "topped it off", you more than likely didnt :bleed " the system, they have 2 bleed screws on that engine, if not bleed, air was in the system yet and in a short time, it overheated again because of a "low coolant level". A bad thermostat can cause that, but I think the gauge is going up and down just from the low coolant in the engine, everytime coolant hits the therostat, it opens, when the air hits it, it closes. Hot air in an engine will not open a thermostat, only hot coolant

2007-02-09 13:34:07 · answer #2 · answered by mrautomechanic 4 · 0 0

1999 Malibu

2016-10-05 05:42:08 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

1)You cannot rule out a head gasket simply because there is no coolant on the oil dipstick, but it does make it less likely to be the problem.

2)Another problem could be that the temperature sensor or some collant related sensor is sending the message to the car's computer to lean out the fuel mixture upon exceleration causing the fuel to run lean thus burning hotter - more than likely the check engine light would be on for that case.

3) It could be that the electric cooling fan relay may not be working and the car is overheating-that can happen even if it is 10 degrees outside

4) the coolant quality effects its ability to cool and lubricate the car's coolant system, in your case "DEXCOOL," an orange or red coolored coolant can become caked up and ineffective - causing the car to overheat.

If I were in your position I would bring the car up to a GM service center and pay to have them diagnos it, otherwise you could wind up replacing a lot of unneccesary parts.

2007-02-09 08:06:43 · answer #4 · answered by ragajungle 2 · 0 0

Do you have a garage to park you car in because it sounds like your coolant is not at the right mixture it is freezing. You temperature rises and falls because some of the coolant isn't froze and it comes through in spurts. So get your car inside somewhere and let it all dethaw. After that get some antifreeze that is premixed and refill your system. If you can you might want to have a shop flush the system that way you know for sure that the mixture is right so you wont have anymore headaches. keep me posted. GL

2007-02-09 08:06:49 · answer #5 · answered by schampoo2002 3 · 0 0

well i have the same car 99 malibu overheats every few days no water in the oil both fans are active i changed the thermostat based on are weather conditions but its going through water like crazy i cant seem to find any water leaks so im curious would it be possible it does this one theres no anti freeze just water and if so wat should i use 50\50 or pure antifreeze and im thinking about trying some a\c leak detector dye and see if i can find any possible leaks with the uv flashlight ..................ive seeen other postings that pointed out some ideas but im basicly stuck

2015-09-01 12:24:00 · answer #6 · answered by that guy 1 · 0 0

Change out the thermostat with a OEM part (GM)....flush the cooling system of all Dex-Cool and replace with conventional 50/50 mix coolant/water.Repeat every 2 years.

2007-02-09 09:58:15 · answer #7 · answered by 1st Responder FF/EMT 3 · 0 0

WELL ..... ME AND MY BUDDY ARE ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH OUR MALIBU 99 3.1 .... AND MY LUMINA 99 3.1 ..... THOSE ENGINES THAT THEY USED DURING THAT TIME HAD ALOT OF RECALL ... SO WHAT THE PROBLEM COULD BE IS THAT YOUR ENGINE HEADS ARE GONE OR LIKE ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ANSWERD ABOVE ... THERES A GASKET PROBLEM ...... AND JUST LIKE YOUR PROBLEM MY CAR AND MY FRIENDS MALIBU STILL RUNS .... BUT MY FIRENDS MALIBU ENGINE LOCKED AND IT HAD NO ANTIFREEZE IN THE OIL BUT IT WAS FOUND THAT IT WAS HIS HEAD GASKET ... SO I DONT KNOW WHERE U STAY BUT MORE THAN LIKELY YOUR ENGINE LIGHT IS ON ... AND I KNOW AT AMMACO (SOMETHING LIKE THAT) THEY TELL U WHAT THE PROBLEM IS FOR FREE IF YOUR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON ..... AS FAR AS MY LUMINA IM HAVING YOUR SAME PROBLEM BUT IM CHANGING THE ENGINE ANYWAYS CAUSE MINE SHOW SOME ANTIFREEZE IN THE OIL AND I WANT A BETTER ENGINE

2007-02-09 09:34:27 · answer #8 · answered by lebrent_jamison 1 · 0 1

I had a bad radiator cap that caused the over flow to happen ... change the cap first couple bucks and then dig deeper into the cooling system

2013-12-28 15:29:17 · answer #9 · answered by Paula 1 · 0 0

put a new thermostat in and try that. but if there is antifreeze gushing out thats not normal.

2007-02-09 07:58:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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