Engine overheated pulled over let engine cool and wouldn't start

Do not continue to operate. Operating an overheated engine will cause the engine to fail.

After the engine has cooled,
Confirm that the engine has coolant.
Confirm that the reservoir is full to the mark
Start engine and confirm as engine gets warm cooling fan at radiator turns on

Confirm that the rubber engine belt is working
Put in car heater to full hot and blower on.
Confirm heat is hot from car heater.
If heater is not hot possible water pump failure or air in coolant system keeping the coolant from circulating.
Allow to cool completely.
Remove cap start engine and observe coolant flowing at or near cap. Observe bubbling or exhaust gases coming from radiator

Check for water in oil by pulling dip stick

• White smoke from the exhaust pipe
• Overheating engine
• Bubbles in the radiator or coolant overflow tank
• White milky oil
• Significant loss of coolant with no visible leaks

If milky likely a blown head gasket

Hope this helps?

I agree with Duncan Lawrie, check for the white gunk on the dipstick. Does the engine turn over as if its trying to start?

If you have the 2.7L engine, you may have a bad water pump. The water pump is turned by the timing chain. When the water pump on those particular engines go out, tension on the chain goes away and retards the camshafts bad enough for it not wanting to start. Pull your oil dipstick out and see if you see signs of water in the oil. If there is, this is your problem. When the water pump goes out on those engines, it'll drain water straight into the front of the oil pan.

This happened with my Sunfire. It was the radiator. The engine wasn't cooling, but the sensor wasn't showing that it was overheating. So the engine would start when it was cool, but as soon as it got hot, then if I stopped it wouldn't start again.

The power steering system holds only a small amount of fluid and isn't under any pressure unless the engine is running plus it wouldn't take much of a leak before you wouldn't have any power assist when steering so I doubt if that is the root cause of your problem... however the cooling system is under pressure once the engine is running and it sounds like you have a coolant leak somewhere that is causing the spraying of fluid under the hood...especially since the motor is now overheating. If the coolant level gets low enough it will boil/bubble out and may give off a scorched smell. I would start by just checking all the fluid levels while the engine is off and cool. If the coolant level is low but the engine oil level is high [like it was overfilled] then you may have a bad head gasket that is causing the engine to overheat and is allowing coolant to enter the oil. The engine oil may also look like chocolate milk when this happens. You could also have something simpler such as a leaking water pump or hose that is causing the loss of coolant. I would have this problem checked out as soon as possible since it doesn't take much overheating to cause some pretty serious engine damage. Good luck, hope this helps!

There is a leak in your cooling system. Take it to the dealer or mechanic; it needs to be replaced.


Adding coolant would probably prevent it from overheating, since it sounds like you could be leaking coolant. But you will want to get it fixed immediately. Wouldn't want to be stuck in traffic while you have a cooling system leak, only for the engine to overheat and having to buy another engine.

There is no reset switches on cars. Have you let is cool sufficiantly? You may have a blown head gasket and this caused the overheating and if it is bad then you can be sucking too much air in the engine to get it started or worse water could be getting in. Have this checked out,

Could be the temp sensor on the radiator or the fan relay. I wouldn't drive it to avoid overheating & damaging the engine.

There is no need to purge the air out of the cooling system as it is self purging on the northstar engine.
The most common overheating problem with the Northstar engine is a blocked purge line. It's job is to purge air out of the cooling system.
There is a small diameter hose coming from near the top of the coolant tank,this is the purge line.
With the engine idling,pull the purge line from the tank,if there is no coolant flow from this small hose,it is blocked and this will cause overheating.If the hose is clear, check for blockage at the nipple on the tank or trace the hose further back until you locate the blockage.

The most common overheating problem with the Northstar engine is a blocked purge line. It's job is to purge air out of the cooling system.
There is a small diameter hose coming from near the top of the coolant tank,this is the purge line.
With the engine idling,pull the purge line from the tank,if there is no coolant flow from this small hose,it is blocked and this will cause overheating.If the hose is clear, check for blockage at the nipple on the tank.