musthavemuzk Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 nothing but problems as of late. low coolant light comes on temp light comes on on occasion no heat while sitting still heat while moving. sometimes hot sometimes warm. how long does it take to bleed the air out? i went for like 10 minutes the other day without a solid stream of coolant coming out. after i replaced the lower intake earlier this fall i was OK for a bit. since late nov i have had nothing but problems. car is a 90 cutlass with the 3.1 lower intake i got was from a 88 cutlass with the 2.8 all seemed to go good using the search i see that i need to check the lines from the heatercore to the pump as well as the pump to the TB. anything else? Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slade901 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Probably faulty thermostat. If you have taken off the the thermostat, make sure you did not put the thermostat upside down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey b Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 did you check for more bleeder valves. I believe the later 3.1's had 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redfox340 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Probably faulty thermostat. Agreed. If you getting a "High Temp" light but coolant is present in the system, it's a stuck stat. As for the "Low Coolant" light, again, if the radiator is full, the sensor could be just gunked up. The sensor is located on the radiator; remove and gentley clean and re-install. - Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted December 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 ok then i have replaced the thermostat and rad cap already. i did that right away. on sat when i was messing with it i removed the tstat after it got to operating temp and it was open. as the cold air got to it it closed. the rad cap i was given by the parts store was one with the release vent on top and i think it was 16lbs to open it. i could have swore the one i replaced was 15 lbs. i did not think much of it as it was only 1 lb. the only bleeder i have seen is the one on the tstat housing. might be more but that is the only one i have seen. right now i am at home in IA for the holidays so i am limited on resources and using a public computer to find help. on the way to town today, which is about 6 miles if that, the temp light flashed on and off a couple times. temp outside is about 35 and sunny. when i pulled over and checked the hoses and such the top hose was pressurized but cold. bottom hose was a little pressurized and warm but not hot. plenum was warm but not hot. pipe to TB from pump was hot. hose from pump to heater core was warm. and just a slight bit of warm air from heater. coolant light did not come on yet today. seems to me that there is a blockage. just not sure where. first guess would be radiator. thus not allowing water to be sucked in or out as fast as it should be. seems core might be fine since there is some heat. but not sure. gonna see if i can get a flush done today. mayb because of the time of year. might be tough to find a place with an opening. next stab is to remove radiator and replace alltogether or get it boiled to unplug it. just dunno since i have to be back to work in NW MN on monday and well temps ae not exactly the best for driving with no or little heat. i am almost panicking. not a lot of cash to just go and do whatever. so trying to take the smart approach to this. btw it is 550 miles back to my house in MN anything else? on public puter til 1pm central. then off. til mayb tomorrow if the library is open. if not then not til friday mayb Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted December 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 well i feel pretty stupid right about now. took it in and before they did anything i gave them the rundown on what i have noticed and what i have done. first thing they came up with was the head gasket was in need of replacement. but they wanted to run a test for that. i said sure. a few minutes later the mechanic came out and asked me who put the belt on? i said me. well he noticed when he was releasing pressure on the rad cap that the belt looked funny. a closer look and he noticed that the belt was on the water pump incorrectly. i had it going over the pump pulley and it should have been under the pump pulley. so he switched the belt and bled the system quick and top off the overflow and sent me on my way. was lucky i guess. was the shop my dad always visits when he has no time or cannot do it himself. so i got a deal on the labor. and he talked with me and not down to me. so 30 bux later and a ton of stress my car is running and heating fine again. he said to keep an eye on things and to give it a shot later to bleed the system again in case he did not get all the air out. feeling pretty dumb i am anyways just letting it be known what came of it. ran to a Ames on a trip to see how it was. and to use the library computer there. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slade901 Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 So the water pump has been turning the opposite direction and instead of pushing the coolant to the engine, it was basically pulling the coolant out of the engine. Glad to know it's fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 well it was not fixed. found more problems. tstat housing was cracked. so that was replaced. did not fix the problem. so i had decided to take off on sat morning to come back to MN. got up sat morning and packed car. but had no heat. so i head back to the shop. found cooling system was almost a gallon shy. in the process he ran the test to see if there was exhaust gas in the cooling system. well there was. so i stocked up on antifreeze. and headed north stopping frequently to make sure system was full. dunno if i caused the head gasket leak with my backwards install of the belt, but i do know i get to tear into my motor further this time. was pretty stressful trip home since i did not know if i was gonna make it or breakdown. and since temps by the time i got home were sub zero i for sure did not want to breakdown somewhere. so i may pick the brains around here in the near future as i have to tear into my motor again. so i guess i finally found out why things were as screwy as they were. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaPaPooh Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 glad you made it home safely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robby1870 Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 well it was not fixed.found more problems. tstat housing was cracked. so that was replaced. did not fix the problem. so i had decided to take off on sat morning to come back to MN. got up sat morning and packed car. but had no heat. so i head back to the shop. found cooling system was almost a gallon shy. in the process he ran the test to see if there was exhaust gas in the cooling system. well there was. so i stocked up on antifreeze. and headed north stopping frequently to make sure system was full. dunno if i caused the head gasket leak with my backwards install of the belt, but i do know i get to tear into my motor further this time. was pretty stressful trip home since i did not know if i was gonna make it or breakdown. and since temps by the time i got home were sub zero i for sure did not want to breakdown somewhere. so i may pick the brains around here in the near future as i have to tear into my motor again. so i guess i finally found out why things were as screwy as they were. Monty If you need any help with the head gaskets let me know. I got you through the lower intake, so you're almost there, just a couple more tricks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musthavemuzk Posted January 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 cool robby. i got a heated shop lined up so i do not have to do it in the sub zero outside. so that helps. plus i will be able to work on it more per day instead of just during daylight hours outside. should have a mekanics help and tools if needed too. plus a couple friends said if they could lend a hand they would try if they are around. so now i just need some cash and time. Monty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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