I have a 96 2.2 cavi w/ 138,000. These engines are notorious for running hot from what I read.
I am sure that w/ all the miles the tolerances and seals aren't as good as they should be, but my car runs hotter and hotter every year. My wife says that it always ran in the 3/4 reigon from when she bought it. NO problem moved the needle on the guage 1/8 inch years ago...
About two years ago I did a head gasket. I noticed nothing unusual about the insides, all looked good, no burned valves or any signs of damage. Even w/ a new head gasket and a 5 year old radiator it still runs real hot. If you stop in traffic for a light the fan will kick on.
Anyway today I flush and fill the rad. The old coolant wasn't bad and no scales or rust after "Prestone" flush and two re-fills w/ water to clean it out. I fill and BLEED the system. Got no air coming out of bleeder, only coolant. Start it up and same crap. On the 100 mile drive back to home I notice it is actually running hotter now, the fan was on form some of the highway driving in 40 degree temp.
What can I do from here????? Colder stat, maybe a 180?
I am at a loss, I don't wanna get rid of her just yet, but I have to lick this cooling issue
Forgot to mention the stat, radiatior and flush was done w/ head gasket (bout 2 years ago) , sorry.
Any thoughts on what I can do make it run cooler? Last night I drove to work 12 miles and the fan was on for most of them. I don't want to burn up the fan then I am really f'd.
Anyone run a bigger radiator?
why not replace the thermostat first.
thats what it sounds like to me... if your thermostat is failed/closed state, then the coolant in the engine will not circulate into the radiator, and will not be cooled as such. try just switching to a new thermostat, same temp, its real easy to do on our cars, its directly below the altenator, and thermostats are cheap, like less than ten dollars.
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Don't buy the el cheapo thermostat. Go with a Gm thermostat ONLY. Aftermarket tend to be POS. I saw it a few times that thermostat other than Gm and too weak and don't hold the pressure.
Gilles
2.3 Ho
mine works fine... even in my 89 it was the first thing i replaced when i got the car. it was one of the fail safe/open ones, and my car NEVER had the fan come on, untill i bley a heater hose on the highway one night, lost all my coolant and fried another head gasket...
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on my Ho and W41 it worked fine with a cheap 3$ one but on my dad 98 2.2 it just stay open cause they are too soft. Only the Gm one are strong enough.
Gilles
2.3 Ho
i can tell when mine opens... i was worried about this car after i rebuilt it because the reason why i
hadto rebuild it was because the previous owner's wife decided not to ever have the oil changed. so one day she pulls up to a red light, car seizes. 5 years later i buy the car for $200, rebuild it (completely), and just to make sure the thermostat worked, i started it up one day, waited for it to get to temp, then using my handy infrared thermometer (one of the most useful tools ever, seriously i think its the only time i can remember ever having even taking it out of the package) waited for the heat to build. the hose got hotter, and hotter, till the exterior of the hose reached about 150, then temp started to drop (thermostat opened up) then the temp climbed again (closed) then the fan kicked on, temp went down again. so after all that, i was happy with my little thermostat, and my car while in motion always stays at the same temp on the gauge inside, needle completely vertical
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I am getting very hot heat in the cabin, almost too hot, and the radiator is getting circulation because its hot on the right at the top hose, and warm on the left by the bottom hose. The return bottle is warm and all the hoses are warm/hot.
Can the thermo being stuck maybe halfway cause this condition? If I run a 180 will that maybe aid in the problem.
One more question, if the temp sensor is bad would it cause both the temp quage to run hot and the fan to kick on. I know the ECU controlls the fan, but it gets its signal from the temp sensor.
I don't get boil overs and like I said the circulation is there. I am thinking that the car may NOT be running hot, but sensor is shot. Or thermo may not be opening fully (why the hotest heat i have ever felt then though).
My car had the same problem, it would get really hot just idling so what i did was flush the system and change the thermostat and after that it didnt overheat so im assuming that might be your problem.
runing a colder thermo has been debated on here a few times, and i do believe the outcome was that our cars generally run best with the proper temp thermo in them. (i do remember that coming from you gilles). personally, if it were me, i'd do both the temp sensor and the thermostat... but thats just me. both cheap parts, both easy to change, both common things to fail on this engine.
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Rich Grayo Jr. wrote:runing a colder thermo has been debated on here a few times, and i do believe the outcome was that our cars generally run best with the proper temp thermo in them. (i do remember that coming from you gilles). personally, if it were me, i'd do both the temp sensor and the thermostat... but thats just me. both cheap parts, both easy to change, both common things to fail on this engine.
They CAN run with a colder temp thermostat but say goodbye to gas mileage. You better go with the same temp thermostat and find the problem rather then hiding it.
Gilles
2.3 Ho
I will be doing both in the next few days, the thermo and the temp sensor. What I really want to know is does the temp sensor make the pcm turn the fan on and the guage rise, or does the fan come on directly from the sensor.
I ask beacuse even though my guage is 3/4 and the fan is running almost all the time now (Even on highway w/ cold outside temps), my motor doesn't seem too hot when I open the hood.
I am thinking maybe its not running as hot as the pcm thinks. Haven't hit it w/ the laser temp sensor to see how hot it really is.
My car was running hot too. All I did was change the resevoir cap and it's runnin' fine now
If the sensor is shot you should get a code.
