Overheating issue

[RZB1992]

I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my 99 Intrigue. We replaced the engine with one that had only 45k miles on it, so I'm doubting/really hoping it's not a bad headgasket, but it's been running a little hot. It'll get 3/4 of the way to the max heat line, then the fans will kick on and it will normally go back to the middle line. I tried a brand new thermostat, and used Dexcool, but neither worked. I took it for a ride and noticed that the more I beat on it and gave it WOT runs, the cooler it runs. It's also making a sort of squeeling sound.... Does this sound like it could be a bad waterpump?? Any help is much appreciated.... (trying to fix this up so I can sell soon).

[slick]

Replace the water pump and do a flush.

[IRONDOG442]

You should do a compression test on all cylinders before you replace the water pump, this is why: 1. its on not an easy job on the LX5 2. they are expensive 3. they usually never go bad. its easier to do a compression test to verify the head gaskets aren't bad. I am thinking it coul dbe a water pump since opening it up does cool it down but I am more inclined to say head gaskets.

[RZB1992]

Alright, thanks guys.

[IRONDOG442]

Alright, thanks guys.

 

 

good luck Ryan!

[RZB1992]

Alright, so I have my old engine from my 01, and I grabbed the water pump off that. (only had 93k miles) and installed it. Also did coolant flush and fill with dexcool. But even after that, the damn car is sitll over heating. It gets to the 3/4 line, then backs down a tiny bit with the cooling fans. And again, it seems to help to beat on it a little bit. It doesn't make the squeeling sound anymore.... Could this possibly be the temperature sensor?? The engine only has 45k miles on it, is it even possible that the head gaskets would go bad that soon?

[dodgethis]

gaskets imo

[IRONDOG442]

Yeah its not matter of mileage its a matter of duration, the engine is 10 years old.

[IRONDOG442]

Drill a small 3/32" pin hole in your coolant reservoir and sell the SOB!

[mfewtrail]

A few questions for you:

 

1. Is the car losing any measurable amount of coolant?

2. Did the radiator seem to drain at a normal rate(if you cracked open the drain instead of pulling a hose)?

3. Did you find any stop leak stuff draining out of the radiator? Often times people will pour that shit in when they have a small leak somewhere(water pump, hose, etc.) thinking it's going to fix the problem. They usually get the actual problem repaired afterwards and the stop leak eventually ends up partially blocking flow in the radiator. Cars will partially clogged radiators typically overheat a bit a idle and lower rpms. If you drive them harder and get the water pump spinning faster/moving more coolant through, they usually start cooling off pretty good. Just something to think about...

[IRONDOG442]

Matt with the LX5s and trust me I have experience with these, the typical head gasket diagnosis does not apply to these engines. Regarding drivablility, smoking, exhaust odor, and even bleed down compression tests. And I have never seen an Intrigue with a plugged rad.

 

For one the reservoir is pressurized its not just an over flow, secondly the head gaskets themselves don't actually fail the head bolts do because they're very small in diameter and are fine threaded bolts into finely threaded aluminum will pull out ever so slightly to release very small amounts of antifreeze into the cylinders and invariably through the compression of the engine leaking back into the pressurized reservoir will make the over flow spew out just a trace amount of coolant as the car cools down. This is a very common problem amongst all northstar variants. Because its a pressurized system the radiator which is a corssflow design almost never clogs, the coolant is exchanged constantly. The only way to truly fix this problem is to buy a tap to cut coarse threads into the block and buy the course thread GM head bolt kit which will set you back about $500 Beyond the special tools required to tear down the engine and time it which will set you back another $300 on ebay, its beyond the practical ability of most people but considering what an Intrigue freak Ryan is, it just may benefit him to buy the Kent Moore tools, the factory service manuals and the thread repair kit.

[RZB1992]

It's not losing any coolant; haven't noticed any leaks at all and I didn't notice any different kind of flow from when I drained the radiator. I'm beginning to think it may be the head gasket. With the luck I've had with this car so far (horrible) I wouldn't be surprised. My dad and I are going to attempt to replace the Coolant temp. sensor, and if that doesn't work, I guess it might have to make a good parts car.

[IRONDOG442]

Just do what I said Ryan drill a very small hole in the top of the reservoir and this problem will go away for a very long time. Drill it right where the 4 bubbles on top of the reservoir meet. And that CTS is a real motherfucker to get to, taking the EGR valve off will help.

[Highmilagecutlass]

Hey

I'm new to the forum and I want to share some cooling problems that I had.

My radiator core and condensor cores were full of cottonwood debris that almost looked like hair, especialy on the other side of the cooling fans.

So I pulled the fans and removed the rad supports so that I could tilt them to clean the debris away and improve airlflow thru my rad.

I also at the advice of a mechanic put in a new themostat. And confim that BOTH fans are working .

And Bleeding all of the air from your cooling system is crucial. Some penetrating oil on the bleeder screws is also important.

I have well over 300,000 miles on my cutlass and these tips helped me

[RZB1992]

Thanks everyone for your help. At this point I'm just going to drill the hole like you mentioned Rob, but before that, I did try a couple things... New temperature sensor didn't change anything, but I did notice the upper heater hose, (the one that's parallel to the metal air conditioning hose against the firewall) is making a clunking noise and vibration that's noticable through the steering wheel and pretty much the whole car. Could this have anything to do with the over heating problem? It seems that turning the heat on made the temperature climb a little more than it initially was while idiling. (FTR, it was idiling slightly above the middle line, then it climbed to the 3/4 line when I turned the heat up).

[IRONDOG442]

let me know what hapens when you drill the hole, this solved the problem on my dads intrigue 2 years ago and its still OK

[slick]

If you turn on the heat, it should actually help lower the engine temperature.

[RZB1992]

Turning the heat on hasn't cooled it much at all if it has any. My dad talked to an old mechanic who mentioned pinching the heating hose would remove any bubbles, and get rid of the knocking in the hose - it did, and seemed to help keep the engine cooler while it was idiling, then as soon as I started driving it, it started rising. Then I took Rob's advice with the 3/32" hole in the reservoir tank.... Didn't help either!!! I don't know what else it could possibly be. Did a coolant flush. Brand new thermostat. Brand new CTS. And replacement water pump, still no changes at all. It doesn't seem to climb above the 3/4 line, but I normally try to stop driving it when it reaches that; additionally the cooling fans do come on when the guage gets to the middle line. Could this be anything else other than the head gaskets????

[BXX]

Put a new radiator cap (aka resovoir/surge tank cap on the Intrigues closed system) and go from there. It wont cool properly if it wont put the system under enough pressure.

 

If it were headgaskets or the headbolts pulling out, the engine would get much hotter while beating the snot outta it.

 

After the new cap, I would remove the current thermostat (I dont care how old it is) and throw it as far as you can. Either get a GM one from the dealer or a Stant from like Autozone. Get a low temp 180 (Factory Temp) unit.

 

If those dont help, my money is on a clogged radiator.

[RZB1992]

Bob, thanks for the advice. I could try the new cap, but the system seems to be pushing out a good amount of pressure. Would you still try replacing it?? Also, the car ran cool before we swapped the engine, so I don't think the radiator is clogged.

[BXX]

Is the engine running lean???

 

Lean equals vert hot engine.

 

And there's a big different between 10psi and 16-18psi coolant system pressure as to how cool the system will run.

 

Also, you sure you have the air bled out all the way??

[RZB1992]

Well, I bought a new reservoir cap, (and ftr, the thermostat I got is from autozone), but I also drilled a tiny pin hole in the thermostat - something my dad read on some thread about Intrigues overheating. After doing that work, we refilled with the dex, and air bled everything out. It runs cooler now, and stays below the middle line when we drive it, but when it's idiling, it goes slightly above the middle line. It's not far enough to worry too much, and when you start driving again, it cools down, but it still does heat up a bit.... Air blew right through the radiator, so we didn't think it was clogged, but does it sound like that could be the problem??? Thanks again for everyones help!!!!

[RZB1992]

So I was about ready to give up on this pos. I tried everything, (thanks again for everyones suggestions), and I thought it was the head gasket. Then for the hell of it, I tried looking overheating Intrigue online, and found another forum with several Intrigue owners who had the same problems. One guy tried everything I had, and had no luck, till he changed the serpentine belt... Presto... $20 more in to this money pit, and problem solved. No more over heating... mutha fu&%$%!!

[ruktosk]

Guess there was too much slack in it; not pulling the water pump pulley. Weird.