TheGeek May 29, 2006 Share TheGeek Member May 29, 2006 My car is over heating now that its 80+ here in Minnesota. I know my optimal temp and its getting 60 to 80 degrees past the mark. And even worse with the AC on. The temp goes up stedaly and not abruptly. What i think is that the fins on my radiator head is all mashed and matted down. Will this affect my cooling ability this much? Also it overheats if I go into 30 mph traffic with stop and go, at about any temp. Do you think that I dont have the right mix of coolent? The radiator head needs to be replaced? I can take a pic of the radiator head tomorrow morning. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3vil May 29, 2006 Share 3vil Member May 29, 2006 replace your thermastat,have your radiator flushed.what year car,make,model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brillow_Head May 29, 2006 Share Brillow_Head Member May 29, 2006 Is your radiator fan running at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek May 29, 2006 Author Share TheGeek Member May 29, 2006 (edited) Its 1993 a Pontiac Grand Am GT, 3.3 V6. Would a thermastat do that? I thought if you had your thermostat go out the car would stay really cool or really hot but its all abrubt. I havnt checked if the fan is running, I will check. Edited May 29, 2006 by {GpL}TheGeek998 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3vil May 30, 2006 Share 3vil Member May 30, 2006 your thermastat can get stuck open or partially open not letting the coolant circulate properly. your temperature sending unit can not let your fan come on.your radiator could be partially clogged also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis May 30, 2006 Share Dennis Member May 30, 2006 def sounds like a thermastat or radiator problem. i had a problem like this with my 1997 pontiac trans am. and it turned out to be both. id have both looked at to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek May 31, 2006 Author Share TheGeek Member May 31, 2006 def sounds like a thermastat or radiator problem. i had a problem like this with my 1997 pontiac trans am. and it turned out to be both. id have both looked at to be safe. did it cost money to get it diagnosed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX May 31, 2006 Share NOFX Member May 31, 2006 id buy a thermostat for cheap and replace it myself... thats what it sounds like to me... I had a 92 Dodge Shadow... One day it started overheating... If I was sitting still or in stop and go traffic, it would overheat. I would have to dip off a side road and pick up some speed so the air would cool it down. And it was a thermostat problem, not working when it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leveller May 31, 2006 Share Leveller Member May 31, 2006 I've had similar problems in the past, almost always something to do with a switch burning out for the fan, or a dodgy relay, the 4 times I've had overheating problems it's been electrical (once on a volvo 440 and 3 times with an old Audi, I'm not counting the time a deer decided to jump through my grill at 85mph). I'm not saying it couldn't be the radiator at fault, but it's almost always worth replacing the $20-30 electrical items before you throw $150-250 at a new/reconditioned radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Soapdish May 31, 2006 Share Nick Soapdish Member May 31, 2006 (edited) you can also try running your car with the heat on, as bad as that sounds, to try to temporarily relieve the heat off the engine. check your fuses under your hood, often the thermo can go out by a fuse and that saves you a lotta dough. the fuses will either be next to your battery in a master fuse box or on the left side of the driver dashboard when u open the door. Edited May 31, 2006 by Nick Soapdish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek May 31, 2006 Author Share TheGeek Member May 31, 2006 thanks guys, i checked where the thermostat is and.... its going to be really hard to get at. i want to punch who ever thought of putting a V6 in a car thats only big enough for a I4... everything is crammed, but that wont stop me from trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOFX May 31, 2006 Share NOFX Member May 31, 2006 (edited) ahh that sucks.. I have the complete opposite. I have a 4 cylinder with enough room for a V8 Edited May 31, 2006 by NOFX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis May 31, 2006 Share Dennis Member May 31, 2006 mine was like $300 to fix, if u knwo what u r doing or have a friend who can do it then i would buy the parts and do it myself, if not go to a place u trust. i woulda fixed mine myself but i was on the way to the beach and wasnt on the mood to work on an LS1 engine...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek May 31, 2006 Author Share TheGeek Member May 31, 2006 i looked up where my thermo is and its not that hard to get to. i was looking in the wrong spot so its going to be fairly easy. if this doesnt fix it i will change my radiator cap, when i tested it, the gauge told me that i was loosing about 4 pounds of pressure, not much but worth a shot. i tested my radiator and there was no clogs in december. so i think this will fix it. OH! and nobody told me their opinion on the bent radiator fins. do you think it would make this much of a difference? AND i drove my car today and its about 75 degrees here and no overheating. i wonder if the thermo only works when it wants to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leveller May 31, 2006 Share Leveller Member May 31, 2006 (edited) Is the fan running? If the fins are bent up badly, it could restrict airflow and would also mean there's less surface area to cool, so it's possible that it could cause the problem. But, if you're really noticing it overheat when you're in stop start driving, to me it sounds like the fan/thermostat/switch/relay is faulty and not cutting in like it should. If you're moving along on the freeway at speed you probably wouldn't notice it overheating because of the airflow. If it's not overheating some of the time and overheating some of the time, sounds like something electrical is past it's best before date. Edited May 31, 2006 by Leveller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGeek June 1, 2006 Author Share TheGeek Member June 1, 2006 thanks Leveller, my fan is running when it should. im going to fix my thermo on saturday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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