Need your opinion---Coolant Problems

[camaronat]

I am having problems with my car running hot at low speeds. If you turn on the heater, it blows cold air. The first thing I thought was that the water is not cycling, which would mean no heat through heater core (right?) I thought it was my water pump going because I had a small leak around it, so I took it off and the pump looks fine. The next thing I checked is the thermostat. It looked brand new when I took it out. The only thing I can think of now is that my problem is in the radiator.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

[venom]

are you still running dex-cool? Or when it had dex cool in the past, did it clump up on you? (reddish-orange clay stuff in radiator and puke tank). If so, your heater core and your radiator are probably shot. Or the easy fix could be to crack open the bleeder screws on the water neck and fill the radiator untill water comes out of the bleeder screw and get rid of the air pocket so coolant will flow. (reverse flow cooling on the 3.8l). hopefully it is the latter and not the first suggestion.

[brink]

Keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything to contribute.

[ May 09, 2005, 08:11 PM: Message edited by: navyblue2000 ]

[camaronat]

Well, its a 93...so I don't believe it ever ran dex-cool. I know , at least, that it has not as long as I have had the car. I know the system has had a rust problem, and the heater core is only about 2 yrs old. I think the rust is pretty much taken care of.

[Loochy88]

have most of you guys converted from dex?

[navyblue2000]

Originally posted by Loochy88:
have most of you guys converted from dex?

I ran it (mind you a 75/25 water/coolant ratio), and never EVER had a problem with it...never froze, never boiled, never got too clumpy. 50/50 mix is too much in some areas of the country. I'd go so far as to say you wouldn't even need it till you got into canada [img]tongue.gif[/img]

But I NEVER ran into any cooling issues...

In fact, running the 180* thermostat and that 75/25 mix, the only way I could EVER get the fans to turn on in the summer time was either a) (obviously) turning them on with the switch, or b) letting the car idle with the hood open in the sun on a hot day for ~15-20 minutes.
or c), obviously again, turning on the AC.

[Antman]

I had a similar problem in December last year.
At first I dissmissed the idea that it might be the thermostat, as it hadn't been long since I replaced it with a new one, but on testing (drop it in a pot of boiling water - it should open) it was found to be faulty.

It's funny how something pretty cheap can be the cause of so much grief.

[venom]

Keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything to contribute.

was trying to help. what was your contribution other than to flame somebody??

[navyblue2000]

I edited his post...HE had nothing to contribute

[venom]

camaonat, sorry, I assumed you had a 3.8. Not sure if the 3.4 has the bleeder screw in the water neck or not.

[venom]

and yes I converted from Dex. I just flushed mine and filled it with the new Prestone that you can mix with any type of coolant. And YEAH, its green!! (now that I had to get a new heater core)

[camaronat]

Yeah I checked the thermostat, and it was fine. Got the car put back together last night, was filling it up, and the freakin spacer behind the waterpump started leaking :mad: . Now I get to take everything back apart again [img]graemlins/barf.gif[/img] .