Recently I installed a new water pump and thermostat on my 96 Sunfire 2.2L. I took a road trip this weekend (400 miles round trip) and noticed my temp guage was giving me some troubling readings. When traveling down the freeway (80 MPH) the temp guage reads just above the quarter mark, but when idling my temp guage goes just below the yellow mark on the upper end of the temp guage. What is even more wierd is when I stopped for a break and got going again the temp guage stayed at the halfway mark, not at the lower (cooler end) like it did when I was driving before. Is this cause for concern?? I thought that the temp guage should always be around the halfway mark even when idling. It makes me nervous my temp guage going to the upper end when idling. My temp guage never went into the yellow zone when I was idling, can this still cause engine damage being the guage was at the upper end?? Is this normal?? If it is not how do I fix it?? Thanks in advance for all advice.
you make sure the t-stat opens at proper temp
and installed proper direction
you make sure the water flows freely, might need flushed
just cos the waters flowing, the fan might not be coming on all the time
fan motor, fan relay, and theres a hi-temp switch on or near the thermostat housing.
multimeter will tell you the temp switch is functioning properly, manual should have resistance readings at cold and hot to check it.
check continuity of the wires in this system.
check the oil and water both and make sure the water and oil arent mixing; this could indicate a head gasket blowing. Head gasket blown to the outside is easy to spot, one blown inside between cylinders is harder to spot without compression tests on adjacent cylinders.
Is an '82 Olds Firenza a "Flash Ride" ?
if its intermittent, you might also wanna check the electrical systems in my above post when cold, then again when hot,particularly the resistance readings of the switch and the continuity. Heat can affect a near to failure electrical fault, making for an intermittent. look for hard cracked insulation or hard/soft rubber around the switch housing.
overheating "cooks" stuff to fail later, I am probably dealing with this now myself.
overheating could also be a air leak to the carb or manifold, or a clogging cat.
Is an '82 Olds Firenza a "Flash Ride" ?
Found out what the problem was.....the new water pump that I installed from Murray's Auto Parts. The pump is only two weeks old and it is leaking already, I cannot believe this!!! I thought this was a good pump because it was a Prestone water pump, turns out that Prestone does not even make the water pump, GMB makes them, Prestone just puts their name on the box. I did some research on GMB and they are a big water pump manufacturer and some people are very satisfied with them. This was the first time I bought a GMB water pump and I will not be buying another one. You one get one chance to make a first impression and GMB made a bad first impression. Now I have to go and replace the pump again because of poor workmanship. I don't blame Murray's for the bad pump but I hope that they periodically check their supplier's quality. I have a physical disability that prevents me from walking long distances and can't afford to guess whether the next GMB pump will work or not. I did the smart thing, bought a NAPA water pump which is made by Airtex, lifetime warranty, new pump not re-manufactured. Thanks for the advice that was given.
