nequamminor Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 I did a lot of work on my 3.4 DOHC this weekend. One thing has caught me off guard though. Before we did any work to the car, it would not warm up past the cold mark, or the 100 degree mark on my '95 Monte Carlo. It might have come to the line of the mark, or just a hair past, and that was it. We drained the radiator, put some water and flush in it, then ran it for like 15 minutes, then dumped that. We put new coolant in, and only got like 1 gallon, if not less back into it. It wouldn't take anymore. I drove it to a friends that night, and it was a in the dead center between warm and cold, then cooled back down to about 1/3 between hot and cold. (if that makes sense) It ran fine, i turned off the heater and got on it a little and it couldn't have been more perfect. Got it there and On the way back I got a SES light. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm pretty sure it's tranny related. (That's another story for the tranny shop to handle tomorrow.) On the way back, it was just about the cold mark again.... Would barely warm up. When we got back everything was warm, hoses, block, everything. Keep in mind this car will cook me out of it almost when it is cold, it blows plenty of hot air. Sorry for the long post, but I'm at a loss as far as this over cooling issue goes... I don't know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Coolant Temp Sensor bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nequamminor Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 The coolant temp gauge on the dash read fine on saturday night, it got to about the center of the gauge, then went back towards cold, what i'd consider normal. now it always reads just above cold, and wont get back up to temp. the hoses under the hood feel hot to the touch.... could that possibly be air in the system or is that out of the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach 5 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 Im guessing that you have air in the system which is causing the guages to give an invalid reading. What you could do is take a 1/32" or a 1/64" drill bit and drill a hole in the thermostat. The hole is small enough that it will not allow water to seep through but, is big enough for air to bleed through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 did you change the tstat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdman Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 it could just be the temp sensor, I worked on a cutty at school that did the same thing you described. new temp sensor fixed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nequamminor Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 Yes, I did put a new thermostat in it. It is a 180* though. I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, and help it warm up faster. It warms up fast now alright. One question I have is, which temp sensor do you think it'd be? The one to the computer, or the one to the gauge... I know it has 2, one for each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 I think you should put a proper tstat in based on: http://60degreev6.com/showthread.php?t=24952&highlight=thermostat+myth unless the fans are turning on too early, the ecm one is having no effect on the engine. replace the gauge sender. On a side note, I determined a had a bad guage cluster today that said i was overheating when I was not. seems to be giving me maybe a 20 degree excess reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach 5 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 I have an 180 t stat in mine too. It should cause problems. You'll know its working when the upper rad hose is hot. I would try to bleed the system before I replace anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ride Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 If you drained all the coolant you need to bleed the air out of the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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