2002 Pontiac Sunfire Coolant Problem?

Question

I recently got a Pontiac Sunfire from a family member; I've had it for about a month now. It never gave me problems until now.

Recently, I got a red light on my dashboard indicting that I was running low on coolant. I checked my coolant and the tank was completely dry. I buy some DEXCOOL and mix it with bottled water and then drop it inside the coolant tank.

A day later, the check engine light is on and I have noticed my car is running a little hot. I look up the code with a code scanner and it says "Cylinder 1 misfire Detected" I clear the code and it never comes back but my car is still running a little on the hot side..Any suggestions?

Thanks

Answer 1

has the coolant level gone down? are u leaking? u might have an air bubble in the system. bleed the system to get out air. it might not be a bad idea to flush the whole system if u are having heating issues while u are at it. and for less than 20 bucks u can throw a new thermostat at it while the coolant is out. be sure to buy the fail safe kind that stick open when they die and not close so even if they die, your car will not over heat. have fun.

Answer 2

Would be a good time to have the cooling system pressure tested.Sounds like a possible head gasket problem.The miss fire code could be the place where the head gasket has blown.

Answer 3

if you have a 2.2L engine head gask are very common, about every 80000 miles, dont worry they are one of the easiest and cheapest to replace or have replaced, pop the hood and look very good at the area where the head meats the block, usually the start leaking outward first, see if you can see any green tinted stuff, if so its probably a head gask

Answer 4

sounds like the typical sunfire head gasket