ok ..... notice the cars temp guage was climbing to redline when the car was warmed up and @ idle but when doing 60+ kms it would drop back down .... this got to the point where it looked like it was going to over heat so i picked up a head gasket set and changed it out on the week end ...... still over heating the same way then today i changed out the thermostat ......... same thing ....
So i picked up a coolant temp sensor ..... haven't been able to go out and check it but i will in the morning on the way to work .......
Pops was a gm mechanic up until last yr and he was telling me that it very well could be a number of things to the rad to the water pump to a blocked line and so on and so on and he is right it he also said that it usually was that the fan was turning on to late which would shoot the temp up ..... in case he thinks i shouldnt worry about it and just make sure it doesn't over heat
but i do not feel like spending the rest of my driving time stressing and looking @ the guage constantly when in traffic ..... and if it does get that bad i have to pull over and let it cool down for an hr ??? thats not gonna fly for the drive to and from work cause i do not have a choice traffic is toronto ......
my list of things still could be causing this problem

Blocked Rad
Water Pump
Blocked Hose
Blocked head
Blocked Block
Fan problem not working when it should


no loss of power what so ever even when it was almost about to over heat (thats when i got on the high way and the guage shot back down to under half

anyone experienced something like this ??
or kno a good way to trouble shoot it
pops says if the new temp sensor doesn't help that we should flush the coolant out ... put detergent in and drive it for a day then flush it 2 more times after that .... in total the flush would take up to a week .......
blockage in the rad is common and we did see some buildup on the head gasket and the temp sensor when we removed it for a true complete flush ......... I didn't know that this is the only way to fully flush coolant from a engine
none the less questions ...... comments ..... HELP..... anything u guys got on this i wanna hear it

i do not feel like replacing every component in the cooling system on this thing....
but on the other hand i do not want to stress about over heating it





PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i know my temp gauge gets very high (read almost out of the normal range) if im not moving. the fact is, the rad needs air moving over it to do anything. if you start rolling, and the car cools down to normal, you can pretty much rule out the rad.the temp guage has to almost be out of the "normal" range to come on. does the fan ever kick on? if not, try to bypass the relay to make the fan come on. did you swap in the eco? if not, you just have an ln2 which is not the eco (eco didnt become standard until 03), which is VERY easy to do the water pump on, may as well go ahead. blocked head/block, not really something to worry about here, but when you do the water pump, may as well go ahead and flush the system, complete flush, as in completely drained, get yourself a bottle of rad flush, and follow the directions. dont refill with dex-cool, its one of the worst coolants available. while you're there, make sure you dont have any air in the system, causing a vacuum lock in the water jackets. make sure you put the thermostat in the correct way as well.




i ave a peculiar feeling im forgetting something...



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1) have you tried a manual guage on it yet to see what it really runs at accuratly?
2) is the fan working? check the fan stat make sure its operating as it should be.
3) clean the rad and a/c condensor, make sure there are no bugs,etc in them, you can also do a cooling system flush
4) highly doubt it will be a blocked head/block passage, i've never come across it yet in the 10yrs i've been a mechanic.
5) pressure check the system, could be a cracked head, does the coolant level drop?

just remember the old kiss rule (keep it simple stupid), most likely it could be a minor thing thats right infront of your face.


_______________________
** Flat Broke Racing Inc.**

If it is only heating up when you're in traffic or idling, then you fan isn't kicking in.

First, with the engine running, turn you A/C on, does the fan come on?(a/c must be in good working order for this to work.) This will let you know if the fan motor, fan relay and wiring is good or not. If not, with the motor off, but ignition switch in the run position and a/c turned on, pull the plug on the fan motor and check for 12 or more VDC(a test light will suffice here). If voltage is present, fan motor is bad, if not, check the relay under the relay/fuse box on the drivers side, under the hood. Check the fan fuse, if it's good, check the relay. To check the relay, with the ignition off, swap the fan relay and the fuel pump relay, tun the ignition switch to the on position(a/c still turned on), you should hear the fuel pump hum for a few seconds and the fan should turn on. If the fuel pump doesn't hum, then the relay was bad, if it does and the fan is still not working, then the relay was still good and either the relay isn't being switched on, or the there is no fan motor voltage. Either of which will require more thorough trouble shooting, by an experienced person.

Quote:


dont refill with dex-cool, its one of the worst coolants available.

Dexcool is a great coolant, if it was so bad as you claim then why has gm used it from 1998 to now, it is much better then the green crap, since the green stuff can clog your radiator and destroy didn't parts (if not maintained), also you don't have to replace dex-cool as offten.


Anyway if your fan motor is bad (like mine was a few months ago) you would be blowing fuses, and tripping a P404 (or something like that) basically the code is that there is a circuit malfunction, and I replaced the fan and fuse and the car runs great now.


This is my 5 cents worth, (normally is would be 2 cents worth but I have adjusted it for inflation)

Car I drive:
99 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L 5 spd man (My daily car)
98 Ford Escort ZX2 4 spd auto

The cooling fan is the first thing to check.

mine did the same thing check the fan blower fuse. switched that and never had the problem again. or turn the car on and turn the a/c on if the fan does not come on it is the fan. sucks that you had to change all that stuff out. try that and let us know


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i saw more buildup on my water jackets on an 80k mile 2.2 with dex cool than i saw on a sbc that hadnt had its "green crap"changed in 300,000+ miles. try again.



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i had the same problems... if you have the 2.2 ohv ... or any motor try bleeding it.. with the bleeder screws .. my runs fine now.. ever since i did that.

hoenstly guys thank you for the input on all this really
turns out it is a cooling fan problem ....... car is warmed up ..... went outside started it up and watched it climb .... as i was doing this i popped the hood and noticed the fan wasnt on ........ so we switched out the fan relay with the blower motoer relay and it did turn on ......but did not stay on for long @ all ...... and when i closed the hood it did the same thing started up for a min then shut off ( car was still above medium temp level on the guage (@ this point the fan shoudl be on and cooling it back down to medium temp )\
so ........ now i need to find out where the fan switch is and replace that i think ........
now knowing all this .... anyone think of any other relays or on/off switches it could be ???
and 2 does anyone have a wiring diagram and or know where this fan switch is (not the relay thats in the engine compartment fuse box)

there was an air lock in the car but that was removed today by a mechanic @ my work ......... or so he says ....... bottem line is theres no way of telling ........
anywho ....

this is a stright 2.2 non ecotec 99 dr sunfire coupe 5 speed mt
only engine work ive done is replacing all the service stuff and installed a full aem cold air intake .....

a fan blower switch only deals with the heater blower which is interior climate control ish not engine fan .....
maybe you ment the fan relay or fan switch but the fan blower fuse is not the fuse i'd be lookin for
thanks tho for the comments and ish tho ........ nice to kno there help other then the stupid stealerships LOL!!!

As far as I know there is no fan switch as it's controlled by the ECU. The ECU likes to wait a really long time until kicking the fan on (224F for me). If this really bothers you, Advance Auto sells a controller kit that overrides your ECUs fan control and lets you decide when the fan kicks on.

2002 Cavalier 2200 5spd