Re: Grand AM Overheating

Are you running DEX cool in that thing? IF you are then get it out of the cooling system NOW. If not, then check if your water pump is working. With the engine warmed up and running, squeeze the upper radiator hose and release it, you should feel coolant running thru the hose. If not then replace the water pump. Is your cooling fan turning on, does it work? Check that it works buy turning on the ignition and switching the a/c on. If it comes on then you know that the fan works. If not then check the fuses first and then check the fan by running jumper wires from the fan connector to the battery. If the fan works then move on to the relays on the fire wall. Look in your service manuals wiring diagram to see which one is the coolant fan relay. IF the relays check good then check the wiring. Good luck

temperature

So do you think a waterpump on this car is a big job(expensive job)? It's the quad 4 manual tranny 95 GA. I thought it was a very complicated job requiring many hours of labor. Thanks for your responses by the way.

One more question, what would I be looking for if there was condensation in the oil. Would it be like a white residue on the dipstick, or would it require draining the oil and looking at it. I don't think the head gasket is the problem, it has pretty decent power, and I blew a head gasket on a pathfinder once and it lost all power. Also it is not leaking any kind of liquids on the ground, at least while the car is parked, cuz my driveway is bone dry.

KDawg, You need to figure out if the fan is even working before you do something extreme like replace the water pump. The water pump is very unlikely to cause only intermittant temp spikes. The engine would likely flat out overheat five minutes after starting if that pump were shot. The shop that replaced tha fan motor may have completely misdiagnosed the original problem and only temporarily (and accidentally) "fixed" it.

-- GW - note incorrect email address "It's good to yell at people and tell them you're from Tennessee. That way you'll be safe." - Gary Busey

KDawg wrote:

I've never heard of it. Water pumps are known to squeal or chirp or leak out the weap hole when they wear out normally, none of which prevent them from circulating engine coolant. The other (rare to me) form of failure is when the impellar blades totally rust away from lack of cooling system service. This makes the pump not exist, essentially. It's more likely you have air in the system, or the outside front of the radiator is obstructed, (or a nifty head gasket problem).

-- GW - note incorrect email address "It's good to yell at people and tell them you're from Tennessee. That way you'll be safe." - Gary Busey

KDawg wrote:

Thanks Geoff, I'll start with that, and go from there. There are 2 hoses coming from the coolant reservoir, one that goes into the rad (or out of the rad) depending on which way the fluid is circulating. That is the one where it was hard to tell if there was any fluid passing thru. The other hose goes back behind the engine into a metal line. That hose I am pretty sure there is fluid passing thru it, so I would guess that the water pump is working. Besides if the pump was not working it would be hot all the time right, and wouldn't come down until it had rested for a while. I checked the oil again today, and I see no signs of any condensation or coolant residue, so I don't see a head gasket problem. There are also no leaks at all, except for the coolant backing up out of the reservoir lid when it gets too warm. My guess would be that there is an air pocket or some other kind of blockage that is preventing the coolant from circulating properly. I'm taking the car in next week and I'll get them to start with a flush and refill with proper mixture. In the meantime I wont be using the car for much other than short trips which it seems to be fine with.

Thanks again for all the info, much appreciated.

Regards, KDawg

condensation

When you have the fan running with the AC does it over heat?

I'm gonna get the radiator flushed in a few days. Not sure if running the AC makes it get hotter any quicker, because in general I don't use the AC simply because it doesn't work very well. The compressor is almost shot, it makes a loud noise, and puts a heavey strain on the engine while it is on. I'm leaning towards some kind of block in the rad. Haven't checked the air moving around the fan. The other day I was out and it was very hot outside, and I was doing alot of stopping and starting with traffic, and the temp was fine. Last night I went out and it was cold out, and I was highway driving, and the temp went up over half way. Whatever it is, seems to be an intermittent problem. Thanks for the responses.

A/C compressor?!?