I drove in to Raleigh from Knoxville yesterday, and today my car started overheating. Here are a few of the things that I noticed:

1. The low coolant light comes on, but the reservoir tank wasn't empty. I added more coolant, but the light still came on.

2. The heat doesn't work (it did yesterday). A friend of mine thought that this might mean I have air in my cooling system.

3. The radiator fans do work, and when I idled the car with the reservoir cap out, the coolant was definitely bubbling, so I can only assume it's circulating.

4. I've had a small leak in my intake manifold (I think it's a bad gasket) for a while. It was such a slow leak that I never bothered to take it in to get it fixed.


Anyone have any ideas what the problem could be? And how much do y'all think it might cost to get this thing fixed?

2/17/2007 4:58:08 PM

air


-69

2/17/2007 5:56:47 PM

Without knowing what it is I'm working on, I will charge your faggot ass one bajillion dollars to fix.

YEAR, MAKE, MODEL GODDAMMIT

2/17/2007 9:08:21 PM

2001 Chevy Malibu. 93,500 miles.


Looking at other sites online, some folks have suggested it could be a head gasket.

2/17/2007 10:46:46 PM

this sounds like when my thermostat went out

$10 part, take two bolts out, replace thermostat, put two bolts back in

2/18/2007 12:16:53 AM

there is a bleeder valve to let the air out on that engine, open it up and see if any air comes out

2/18/2007 9:31:49 AM

assuming 3.1- there is a bleeder on a pipe at the waterpump- and another near the thermostat.... open both and fill with 50/50 mix until all the air is burped out
should take care of things

2/18/2007 10:08:10 AM

air didnt just magically get in his car as he crossed state lines

2/18/2007 10:09:17 AM

I took it in to Pep Boys today (only place I knew was open) to get the cooling system leak checked. The engine ran a little warm on the way over there, but then dropped back to normal operating temp. I turned on the heat and it actually worked.

Hopefully I won't need a new intake manifold gasket, but I really think that's where the leak is coming from.


One more thing: for the past few weeks, my car has occasionally idled roughly and I've noticed that the idle rpms are lower than usual. Could that be symptomatic of a water pump problem?

2/18/2007 1:17:26 PM

So after having my water pump and thermostat replaced last Monday, Feb. 19th, it overheated again on the 21st.

I had it towed to the Pep Boys here in Knoxville, and those guys told me that my intake manifold gasket had blown, that water had ruined the bearings, and that I'd need an engine rebuild to the tune of about $3800. I checked the oil myself and found no water in it on the dipstick. Me and a buddy then drained some from the oil pan and again found no water, but it did blow steam/burned coolant out of the exhaust, so I guess I do need a new head gasket.

The moral of this story, I guess, is fuck Pep Boys.

2/24/2007 7:53:43 PM

dude, just get a new car. The thing is not worth fixing.

2/24/2007 9:19:52 PM

The bearings they were talking about is cam bearings. On a 3.1 when the intake gasket goes it leaks coolant down onto the cam bearing journals, eventually seizing the fucker and snapping the camshaft. What you were quoted was absolute worse case scenario, noone has any way of knowing the condition of your cam bearings without pulling the cam out, that means a signifigant amount of engine dissassembly with the engine out fo the car. I say replace the upper and lower intake gaskets and go from there.

2/25/2007 12:14:30 AM