I have a 98 Pontiac Sunfire that is having major cooling problems...Ive had the water pump replaced, the thermostat replaced and the radiator flushed and it still heats up really fast. Any ideas? Someone said the mechanic used the wrong coolant and messed my car up (my car's radiator cap says to use Dex-Cool only and the mechanic used regular coolant) but can that really mess things up that bad by not using the right stuff?
2007-10-16 14:48:28 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
sorry, head gasket has been replaced too...
2007-10-16 15:02:24 · update #1
Another rip off flush and fill. I have never seen so many stupid "mekaniks". Cracked heads, thermostats, water punps, wrong coolant and on and on what a waste. When you have an overheat problem go to a RADIATOR SHOP not an auto repair or a dealer. Go now don't waste any more time and money listening to the experts.
2007-10-16 15:33:54 · answer #1 · answered by tronary 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your problem is not the type of antifreeze used. You could have a bad head gasket or clogged radiator if your car overheats even on the open highway at sixty mph where there's plenty of air to cool the radiator and engine. If it only seems to get too hot at idle when your stopped up in traffic, make sure your electric cooling fan is coming on to cool the radiator. A bad head gasket can be tested for by "sniffing" the gases over the mouth of the radiator with the radiator cap removed. You really can't trust a dash temperature gauge, and a non contact thermometer should be used to check the actual thermostat housing temperature in a repair shop.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/overheat.htm
Dexcool Lawsuits:
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:invMN2pWUogJ:www.imcool.com/articles/antifreeze-coolant/CPM-52-DEXArticle-Excerpt.pdf+GM+Dexcool+problems&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a
2007-10-16 14:58:57 · answer #2 · answered by bobweb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have never seen it cause that big of a problem before,it they flushed it and completely re-filled it that shouldn't make it heat up that fast,it is a good idea to use what it calls for,but some of my customers have had me change theirs and it hasn't caused any problems at all,the only thing i ever seen get to one fast was a bad head gasket,,that will make them heat up really fast,and sunbirds did have a slight problem with blowing head gaskets,you can have the coolant changed back ,but i don't think that's going to stop it from heating up that bad,have the shop run a pressure check on it,,this will tell if it has a head gasket problem with it,and you can get a bad thermostat ,keep this in mind also,good luck with it.
2007-10-16 15:05:09 · answer #3 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you need to use only what the cap tells you to use the mechanic should have used just that.
2007-10-16 14:57:33 · answer #4 · answered by ANTOINETTE K 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suspect it’s the thermostat. You can get a bad one you know. What does the mechanic think?
2007-10-16 14:59:52 · answer #5 · answered by Oldwolf 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might have a cracked head, have the mechanic check that.
2007-10-16 15:14:30 · answer #6 · answered by hotvw1914cc 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like a cracked block look for water in the oil or oil in the water
2007-10-16 15:20:33 · answer #7 · answered by cheyenne95129 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋