1997 Chevy Venture Overheating after 800.00 in repairs

I have a 97 Chevy Venture. It has been overheating on me. I brought it to one mechanic who replaced the water pump, radiator hose and thermostat. That did not fix it. I brought it somewhere else where they rodded out the radiator, changed the thermostat AGAIN, ran some sort of sealer through it because I had a very very small head gasket leak. The van did fine for 3 days and then overheated again. When it overheats, it does it VERY quickly. I pull over and pop the hood and the plastic overflow tank is completely full and the radiator, of course, is not. Eventually, the van cools off and the water goes back to the radiator. I can crank it up again, once it cools off and sometimes it overheats again, within a minute, and sometimes it does not. I can sometimes drive for hours without the needle even going to the halfway mark, and then there are times I can?t even drive half a mile without the needle pegging out in the red. Any ideas? I have spent over 800.00 so far and am getting very frustrated, not to mention BROKE.

Reply to
brpansan
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The mechanics 'fixed' a lot that wasn't broken, apparently.

A head gasket leak can cause rapid overheating. Think about it. Exhaust gases at over a thousand degrees entering the cooling system designed to work at about 200 degrees.

The head needs to come off, be checked for trueness and cracks, and the gasket needs to be replaced.

Reply to
<HLS

It is quite likely that the sealant for your head gasket leak that you claim you have, plugged up the raditor core. You need a new mechanic. Water pumps very rarely cause overheating problems, they leak or get noisy when they go bad. You might check clutch fan too for proper operation as it should be running agressively when engine is overheating unless the raditor core is completely plugged internally and not heating up the air much that passes through it.

Reply to
TheSnoMan

Yes, great idea! Make sure you check that clutch fan in THE 1997 CHEVY VENTURE VAN. You know, the van that comes with electric cooling fans!

Now, checking their operation might not be a bad idea.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

One would have assumed that the mechanics that changed out all those parts would have checked the fan operation, but maybe not. They were definitely just parts changers.

I suspect that leaking head gasket will come back to haunt him, however.

Reply to
<HLS

Agreed, but it sure would be irritating if you replaced the head gaskets and still encountered the problem. All the simple and obvious things should be checked (not just replaced, like it appears those other clowns did).

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

As usual, totally agree.

Reply to
<HLS

do you know how they determined head gasket leak?exhaust testing?it isn't so much the temp of the air getting into water system as the additional pressure it is using to displace the water and disturb the waterpump circulation due to air pocket.i had a honda with a similar problem and removed the thermostat and drilled a bleed hole in it(1/4inch).otherwise it would overflow the waterbottle from a cold start and overheat. and also replaced the radiator cap spring(flip top model)with a weaker one(3 pounds) and only have to check the fluid level and add a quart every 500miles or so.the weaker spring was due to radiator being plastic and old and prone to cracking with higher pressure cap.fixed cracks with plumbers putty.total cost 1$(putty). you could try removing thermostat and see if that changes anything.if this is an acceptable fix then drill a hole and put back in if you live in cold climate for heat).good luck

Reply to
oldkid

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