Alrite, heres what has happened and what i have done.
I drove this cavalier for a while then uninsured it for school.
It sat for around 3 months, then i insured it again and started driving.
I had noticed that the temp guage was a little higher then normal
i drove it for around 2 months everything fine, then the guage was little hotter, and one day it just started going into the red.
I immediatly stoped driving it and tried to fix it. first i changed the thermostat. this did nothing. so i changed the radiator. this did nothing. then i changed the waterpump. this did nothing.
then i tried cuting open the thermostat to have cosntant flow of coolant through the radiator. this works, but the engine stays at the c and does not warm up at all (this is what i have had to do as its the best i ahve gotten)
The rad doesnt seem to get hot at all, and the engine starts to get a little hotter when the car is idle.
I phoned a place and they said it is probobly the head gasket. now i know they go in 2.2's very easy and i am at 183000kms but it just doesnt seem like it makes sence.
with a real thermostat in (causing overheating) the tube going into the ehad gets hot but not the one coming out towards the thermostat and the rad (this might be backwards
)
If anyone has anyhting they could tell me it would be appreciated , thanks.
My 2 guesses would be to take a look or replace these to sensors
1). Coolant temperature sensor.
2). Engine temperature sensor.
Those 2 unit sensors could give youre car a false temp gauge reading. Also is youre leaking coolant whiel overheating?.
no coolant looks, no mud in oil and no leaking from exhaust, no smoking. but the rad doesnt even get hot with a thermostat in as if its not opening.
the only thing that slightly makes me think its a headgasket is when the engines running at some point (dont remember when) there is a little bit of liquid coming out of the head, like miniscule ammount.
ive checked all of the plugs and non are wet or dirty.
Headgasket definitely can make it overheat. It went on my 96 2.2. No external leak. Coolent jacket leak to #4 cylinder was where mine went. I would fill the coolant, and 5 minutes later it would start to overheat again. Coolant was also slowly dissapearing. new head gasket and presto - no more overheating. If you have been through all the normal items - as you say - then try a compression check to see if one cylinder is leaking into the jacket.
Ill have to do that, but im not loosing any fluids which is wierd, right now i have the thermostat halowed out and a piece of cardboard infront of rad, rigged it to stay round the first line (bottom) of the operating range which is good for now.
how much did your new head gasket cost to get done ?
Did it myself. About 5-6 hours work. If I recall - About $30 for gaskets required (head, lower intake, upper intake often refered to as T.B throttle body) Exhaust is usually reusable as it is a metal plate gasket. Not for the novice TIY'er, but not an entirly hard job if you have sufficient tools to all the nuts and bolts. Some work needs to be done from below so if you don't mind working on your back - I just did mine with the car on ramps. I have done 2 now. In the family we have a 96 and 97, both 2.2.
my dad overlooks whatever i do and he knows a bit and his freinds know more, so i guess i should be able to do it then.
the head would need to get shaved woudlnt it? becuase there aluminum and tend to warp when heated. (would buying a new head work for this? i barely know anything
)
I would think twice before taking the head off.
If you're not losing coolant...there's not a leak.
Honestly, it sounds to me like you are experiencing an air bubble (or 2, or more) in the system. Air pockets prevent the coolant from circulating. There is a bleed screw on the water outlet housing that needs to be opened during the refill process, allowing air to escape. I'm pretty sure the procedure is described in Chiltons/Haynes manuals, so defnitely pick one up if you haven't already.
I'd also recommend taking it to a shop and allowing them to do a flush-n-fill, but without telling them of the current problem.
-Ferrite
well, its been bleeded, there is no air bubble sthat that relieves.
and if there was no coolant circulating it would still over heat without a thermostat, but it doesnt witch means that its either a thermostat problem, or a magical problem.
ive tried multiple thermostats, and its impossible to get them backwards so i dont really know much else it could be
well, maybe the water pump you put in wasn't good either..... is it used or off a part car cavalier? i mean, all that describes a bad water pump perfectly, i've went through all of that, replaced thermostat, radiator, and i pulled a water pump from a parts cavalier, hoping it was good, and it was, and everything works great but you never know.......but you might have bought a new one so.
It was a new waterpump, and the old one we took out wasnt to bad either so I dont think thats what it is.
Ill take a look and see if its possible in the morning though.
Have you tried this(With the correct thermostat fitted):-
1. Remove the radiator cap.
2. Start the engine.
3. You should observe no coolant flow through the radiator, looking in the rad cap hole.
4. When the thermostat temperature is reached the thermostat should open and there should be coolant flow observed in the radiator.
If 3 and 4 are correct the fault is NOT the thermostat but something else [From the shop manual]
From your description of the fault it would appear that 4 is not correct? Is this so, when you do this test?
[The rad doesnt seem to get hot at all]
You said
with a real thermostat in (causing overheating) the tube going into the rad gets hot but not the one coming out towards the thermostat and the rad (this might be backwards )]
You are right in that it is backwards, the flow SHOULD be from the engine block via the thermostat housing and thermostat to the radiator, down through the radiator and back to the block via the lower hose.
See this link, it's a good description :-http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system.htm
So, something is restricting the flow to the rad via the thermostat housing! Is the thermostat being jammed by something?
Try the above test and post back
Alont
This may sound crazy, But my car was doing the same thing, Is your fan comming on properly? If not it may just be the fan relay, just replace that
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i had mine fixed, but now if the heat is on or I'm the throttle, the temp gauge fluxuates between 1/4 and 1/2 up the scale. When I'm on the freeway, i have had it dip down past the 1/4 mark. Its startin to piss me off
It very well could be the fan, I havent thoroughly checked if it comes on.
this might add some more insight, with the hollow thermostat in it still overheats when im in one spot or if its hot out and im not mooving to often. My dad says its probobly something clogged, but i will definatly check the fan relay (i might have already). I dont see what more it could be other then a small headgasket problem (which would do different things i think) or something being congested. I havent had it insured for the past while but I am again so i will have to bring it in a shop soon to see if they can figure it out or find a congested spot.
