I have a 2001 Chevy Cavalier, 2.2 L, standard.
It all began when my 'Service' light came on. My little headlight light on my dash would flash and my Service light would come on. Then my 'Check gages' light came on. My temperature gage went all the way up. My Engine light came on. Throughout all of this, my 'low coolant' light was coming on sporadically.
We found that my coolant was overflowing. It seemed that my thermostat was bad. The thermostat was taken out.... we went to put another one in but it ended up missing somehow. We temporarily put something on my car to seal it so that the fluid wouldn't leak all over the place. When we did that, it was running fine and the lights were no longer coming on... but I still needed to get a thermostat.
The thermostat was put in today. We let the car run for like 10 minutes or more and it was fine. five minutes after I started driving it, my temperature gage went straight up to the top again and my 'check gages' light came on
2007-12-29 14:58:35 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I also have no heat and when I stopped in my driveway for a second, it felt like it was going to shut down completely(started vibrating).
How could it be running fine with no thermostat, but not doing well when one is put in?
This is the second thermostat I bought today, by the way. The auto place sold me one that was defective. I got it replaced and now this is happening.
I know absolutely nothing about cars.
Someone help me!!! Suggestions?!?
2007-12-29 15:01:37 · update #1
Think you lost your head gasket. the light blinking is a misfire that was caused by the coolant going into your combustion chambers. Thats why the coolant is blowing out and overheating. Pull your plugs to check for signs of coolant.Does it blow out as soon as the car is started? Thats a head gasket problem for sure.You will not overheat without the thermostat because the temps and pressures are lower. Subarus are really good for that as an example when the head gaskets go, so are Ford 3.8s
2007-12-29 15:17:28 · answer #1 · answered by Jeff B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
.I hope you are not driving your car. OK I do not know any thing about your car. When the gages started to go up you need to stop the car, let it cool off and check the coolant level. Something may have stopped the flow of coolant in the system. It could have been a leak, belt slipping, bad thermostat, or some mechanical drag on the engine. Some of the cars are hard to fill and have different ways to fill them. When you put something in to stop the leak you may have cloged up something. Putting in the new thermostat you may age not filled up the system right. Also by now the heat may have cracked something. You need to start over. Fill up the radiator with water, yes water because you will be checking for a leak first. Then put water in the over fill tank. After the system is filled check for a leak. If a leak fix the leak. Not with some thing you put in the system but by replacing what is broke. After the system is fill start the engine with the radiator cap off the radiator. Also you need to have the radiator cap check for psi. To see if it is holding the right psi. As the engine warms up look in the radiator to see if any bubble are rising in the tank. Check the oil dipstick for and water in the oil, check to see if any water vapor is coming out of the exhaust. If yes to any of these then take the car to a mechanic if not drain and fill system with coolant slowly when full let car warn up to open the thermostat. Shut off car and wait until car cool off and recheck the coolant level in the radiator. If you have any trouble at this point you can have a mechanic check the radiator, the radiator cap, and the engine. Some time an engine will not heat up at an idle but will come up on road speed. Hope this helps and good luck.
2007-12-29 23:42:54 · answer #2 · answered by blackheart_987 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get the codes read at the part store#1. This will give you an idea what is going on. 1 thing is trying to compensate for another in the plc. 2nd if you take the thermostat back out put in a pot of water and turn on. Put a thermometer in it and see at what temp it opens. Parts store should be able to tell you. Chances are it is not doing right. Autozone nor advance is known for qualitly parts. Napa is better known but lots of people will tell you on some parts like this go to the dealer. I have had the same problem getting a good thermostst on pontiacs ans isuzus. The plc by temp tells the egr when to open and close so this could lead to your idle problems and the check engine light.
2007-12-29 23:15:43 · answer #3 · answered by ronnny 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From the symptoms you are giving, it is a possibility that the thermostat was put in backwards. Be sure that it is put in correctly, as far as having no heat and your temp gauge going up real high tells me that there is a air lock in your cooling system.
2007-12-29 23:11:43 · answer #4 · answered by bobby 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is possible that the thermostat is installed backwards not allowing the hot coolant to the wax pellet in the thermostat. also bleeding the air out of the system can be difficult. good luck.
2007-12-29 23:04:45 · answer #5 · answered by luke v 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Chevy Cavalier 2.2L is known for it's frequent problems. My suggestion would be to take it to an ASE Certified Mechanic. It is a little bigger problem than you are going to get an answer from yahoo q's
2007-12-29 23:08:37 · answer #6 · answered by Robert G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
christine part deux = get a good mechanic
2007-12-29 23:02:34 · answer #7 · answered by earlyearl389 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your 1st sentence says it all. US made car. Trade it!
2007-12-29 23:01:56 · answer #8 · answered by Mike Hunt 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
take it to the doctor lol!
2007-12-29 23:02:35 · answer #9 · answered by olivemai 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋