Ned Flanders Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 The Buick is being strange. I start the car, the temperature gauge is at 0. Drive it around the block and it's already at full temp (halfway point on the gauge). Wasn't overheating because the temperature would drop back down, but it was heating up much faster than normal. Then today I decided to visit a friend who worked on top of a mountain. Made it up but the needle went to H at the top. Stopped, rested the car, got it rolling again and the temperature went WAY back down. It never done that before. It's got plenty of coolant. Thermostat? Could the radiator cap be at fault too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Sounds like your thermostat is sticking. My 3100 '96 Cutlass did that, it'd get really hot, and then the thermostat would open and it'd just fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Rachel's Regal does this as well, 3100 v6. Needle gets warm, then drops like a rock, then stayes steady. I'll probably toss a new one in there sometime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supreme_style21 Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Thermostat. I had a faulty coolant temp sensor do the exact same thing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masterchief362 Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 My cutty's 3100 did that for a few days... changed the thermostat. Still did it. Had bad head gaskets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted May 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 If it's bad head gaskets I'm throwing the car off a cliff. The oil is fine and I'm not getting excessive smoke. It cooled down really quickly after the needle pegged. All this just happened in the past week. Also, the upper radiator hose was hot... don't know if that makes a difference but it tells me the coolant's flowing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 drill a 1/32 hole in your t-stat. it prevents air/vapor/steam from getting stuck behinds the t-stat, without letting too much coolant pass. I've done this on both my 3x00 cars. I do not know where to find one, but I have seen t-stats with a built in valve that lets air/vapor/steam pass, but traps coolant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masterchief362 Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 When it was my head gaskets I never got much of any smoke, just overheating... if the oil is fine then I put my guess with the t-stat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted May 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 I'll let you know what happens. It's going in tomorrow. What a c--kpuncher this car is sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 When it was my head gaskets I never got much of any smoke, just overheating... if the oil is fine then I put my guess with the t-stat. My buddy had black a 95 gp 4 door gold edition he got from his mom for cheap. The temp guage would be pegged within 5 minutes, so he stopped driving it. We threw in a thermostat, oil was fine, no smoke either. We went on a road trip the next day (about 8 hours round trip) and it ran great and never got hot. A few days later it started smoking and overheating and had white froth on the oil cap with chocolate milk for oil. He was pissed cause he knew the head gaskets were shot and locked it up by holding it to the floor . He had no intentions of fixing it and took it to get crushed. I've never heard of 3100 head gaskets going like that, usually they are a done deal right away, but somehow replacing the thermostat gave it one more day of running, which defies all reasoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Even if the upper rad hose is hot, the thermostat could still be getting stuck, or not opening all the way. Replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Even if the upper rad hose is hot, the thermostat could still be getting stuck, or not opening all the way. Replace it. What he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted May 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 I apparently need a computer? Thank God for junkyards. The car's been in the garage all week and they finally got it to overheat on Wednesday. In a nutshell, how would a computer failure cause this problem? I have an idea. Wow, I wish I had my '79 Malibu. Never had to worry about the computer issues on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Well, the car got a new (used) computer, water pump gasket and a coolant temperature sensor. It started overheating again. So here's a question, if I turn on the AC, shouldn't the cooling fans automaticallly start running? THis is is how the car acts... If I'm trundling along at a good speed, the temperature is right where it should be. If I slow down or stop after that, the needle starts moving up. It goes down - but not much - after I start moving again. I can turn the fans by hand, so they're not frozen or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscsc Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Just the passenger side fan should come on with the A/C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted June 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 No movement from that. I'll replace the relays and see what happens. Thanks for all your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I replaced the sensors and relays and fan motor on the Z24 and still had nothing. Hopefully you don't run into this. I had to wire it up to a relay and switch, so it's completely manual now. It works great, but I don't ever lend my car out because of it. The computer normally is supposed to ground out the relay and turn the fan(s) on, at least on the Z24, I suspect my wiring is fubared somewhere along the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontiac6KSTEAWD Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 I still dont see where he replaced the thermostat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 The thermostat is getting replaced this week...along with whatever's causing the fans to screw up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91CavX Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I replaced the sensors and relays and fan motor on the Z24 and still had nothing. Hopefully you don't run into this. I had to wire it up to a relay and switch' date=' so it's completely manual now. It works great, but I don't ever lend my car out because of it. The computer normally is supposed to ground out the relay and turn the fan(s) on, at least on the Z24, I suspect my wiring is fubared somewhere along the way. [/quote'] Yeah 3.1L Cavaliers have this issue lol... mine is doing it, i might pull everything or have a seperate hook up Ned, I think it might just have been your thermostat.. you might have just wasted money on the other stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w-bodys_are_the_best Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 I replaced the sensors and relays and fan motor on the Z24 and still had nothing. Hopefully you don't run into this. I had to wire it up to a relay and switch' date=' so it's completely manual now. It works great, but I don't ever lend my car out because of it. The computer normally is supposed to ground out the relay and turn the fan(s) on, at least on the Z24, I suspect my wiring is fubared somewhere along the way. [/quote'] Yeah 3.1L Cavaliers have this issue lol... mine is doing it, i might pull everything or have a seperate hook up Mine just quit one day, ran into the gas station, came back out and noticed steam coming from the vent tube in the passenger wheel well. Replace the sensor in the back head (misread the book), then the one by the thermo, nothing. I could jump the fan, but it did seem kind of slow, so I took my fan into a local JY and they threw another motor on it. It did spin alot faster now, but still no go, replaced the relay, and nothing. After reading and talking to a few people, I jumped the relay posts which should kick it in, and it just made a clicking noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 The saving grace is that it's fine around town and if I take a long trip, I stop a few times and let it cool off. The funny part is the car's running smoother than it ever has. I just want to get this out of the way because I want to take a drive this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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