88red4cyl Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 Like the topic says, my 95 3100 powered Lumina has been running really cool the last couple weeks.. In the past it has always run just barely to the left of the halfway mark.. Now it is running about a quarter of the way up the gauge.. It used to get to the middle, the t-stat would open (as you could witness on the gauge), and it would fall back down.. Now never even gets to halfway unless you sit and idle at a light, and as soon as you start again, it falls back down to a quarter... It has lost some coolant recently, but I can not tell how it is losing it (it has been wet here forever).. I can tell however that it is not in the oil, as there are no bubbles on the dipstick and the level is not rising... The heat also blows hot, and the hoses feel hot after you drive for a while (although you are able to squeeze them easily)... Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to go ahead and throw everything I knew out there.. Thanks! Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 I'd start by adding more coolant, bleed the system, and wait for a dryer day, or let the engine steam off the coolant. Few possibilities- water pump, maybe t-stat isn't opening, heater hose lines, etc... lots of them really. Maybe pick up some of that flourescent dye stuff, put it in with some water, take it for a drive, then use the fancy light, or glasses, to pick up where it is leaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted December 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 I'd start by adding more coolant, bleed the system, and wait for a dryer day, or let the engine steam off the coolant. Few possibilities- water pump, maybe t-stat isn't opening, heater hose lines, etc... lots of them really. Maybe pick up some of that flourescent dye stuff, put it in with some water, take it for a drive, then use the fancy light, or glasses, to pick up where it is leaking? I had thought about the water pump and the t-stat, but I don't think its either one... When my water pump went out last year, it was wet all down the side of the engine since it was leaking out of the weep hole, and that side of the motor is dry.. T-stat was replaced the same time as the water pump, and the car warms up to the quarter mark within 2 minutes of driving, so I don't think it is stuck open or anything, and if it was stuck closed, wouldn't it overheat? I don't physically see any coolant leaking anywhere... I sat it there and let it run for a while, and I couldn't see anything steaming.. I do see some kind liquid at the bottom of the block on the accessory side, but I cant tell if it is antifreeze or slush... EDIT- I guess I should also clarify that it never ran out of coolant... It went from the hot mark when hot to just over the cold line when hot in the course of about a week, in which the car was driven about 300 miles or so... I suppose you would call that a slow leak.. Another thing I might add that I just remembered from Chris' post.. Every great once in a while, I have gotten a whiff of antifreeze when I turn on the heat.. I can also smell it under the hood sometimes, but I never can find any leaking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 Okay, on my cars the gauge never gets to half way unless I am sitting in traffic when it's hot out. On the 96, it goes up to almost half way, then when the stat opens it drops down to exactly half way between the 100* mark and half way. All three 1.5 gen Luminas I have do that... and have the entire time I've owned them (all have 3100's). If you have a slight smell every now and then, check hoses, radiator and possibly heater core. On my 96 I have a slight smell, and I'm almost 100% sure it's the radiator...and being almost 13 years old it is going to fail soon. I've had the smell for about a year now and it hasn't gotten any worse...and I watch it like crazy. It hasn't lost a drop of coolant at all so I'm not touching it. Hopefully that helps. I'll take a pic of where my gauge at operating temp sits tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89SupremeCutty Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 Okay, on my cars the gauge never gets to half way unless I am sitting in traffic when it's hot out. On the 96, it goes up to almost half way, then when the stat opens it drops down to exactly half way between the 100* mark and half way. All three 1.5 gen Luminas I have do that... and have the entire time I've owned them (all have 3100's).\ that's how mine is. btw i have a 98 lumina. the only time it gets even close to the half mark is if im sitting in traffic for a long time and it's about 90* outside. i also smell some coolant under the hood, but no leaks anywhere, even after the intake gaskets were replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Okay, on my cars the gauge never gets to half way unless I am sitting in traffic when it's hot out. On the 96, it goes up to almost half way, then when the stat opens it drops down to exactly half way between the 100* mark and half way. All three 1.5 gen Luminas I have do that... and have the entire time I've owned them (all have 3100's). Hopefully that helps. I'll take a pic of where my gauge at operating temp sits tomorrow. Thanks! My car has always run almost straight up and down.. The last time it started running cooler like this the water pump went out, and after I replaced it, it went back to running where it had been... I drove it on a 300 mile last night/this morning, and when I checked the level when I got where I was going, it hadn't dropped at all again.. I haven't been able to check it from the return trip yet... I still am getting the occasional whiff of antifreeze when I turn on the defrost though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3pt1lumina Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 What temp stat are you running? I believe all of my vehicles have 195's in them. I forgot to get the pic of my car; I will tomorrow. The slight wiff of antifreeze could still be the radiator or heater core. I have a slight antifreeze smell where the upper radiator hose meets the neck of the radiator...but I have no leaks and it loses no coolant; hence not fixing it. My 97 did this almost 3 years ago, and it couldn't figure it out...so I bought some of those little tabs from work (GM stop leak, they look like cookies), crushed them up and put them in the radiator...drove it for a year with no problems. Then when I had the condenser replaced I did the radiator too since it had to come out anyways, and it was leaking from around the temp sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 What temp stat are you running? I believe all of my vehicles have 195's in them. I forgot to get the pic of my car; I will tomorrow. The slight wiff of antifreeze could still be the radiator or heater core. I have a slight antifreeze smell where the upper radiator hose meets the neck of the radiator...but I have no leaks and it loses no coolant; hence not fixing it. My 97 did this almost 3 years ago, and it couldn't figure it out...so I bought some of those little tabs from work (GM stop leak, they look like cookies), crushed them up and put them in the radiator...drove it for a year with no problems. Then when I had the condenser replaced I did the radiator too since it had to come out anyways, and it was leaking from around the temp sensor. I am 99% sure it has the 195 tstat in it... I got whichever one was the original temp the car came with.. If the heater core was leaking, how can you tell? I'm not getting any drips on the floorboard or anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 What temp stat are you running? I believe all of my vehicles have 195's in them. I forgot to get the pic of my car; I will tomorrow. The slight wiff of antifreeze could still be the radiator or heater core. I have a slight antifreeze smell where the upper radiator hose meets the neck of the radiator...but I have no leaks and it loses no coolant; hence not fixing it. My 97 did this almost 3 years ago, and it couldn't figure it out...so I bought some of those little tabs from work (GM stop leak, they look like cookies), crushed them up and put them in the radiator...drove it for a year with no problems. Then when I had the condenser replaced I did the radiator too since it had to come out anyways, and it was leaking from around the temp sensor. I am 99% sure it has the 195 tstat in it... I got whichever one was the original temp the car came with.. If the heater core was leaking, how can you tell? I'm not getting any drips on the floorboard or anything... You will usually see coolant dripping out from the A/C evaporator drain at the firewall. It might not be severe enough to show a constant leak yet, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted January 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 So since I posted the original post, I've driven a little over a thousand miles... Since I had to add the initial antifreeze from the first post, the level has stayed dead on at the hot mark when warm... Car started running more close to the middle again as well... I can't figure out what happened to all that antifreeze all of a sudden, and then it quits losing it.. Doesn't make sense to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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