2002 Impala just bought today running hot not quite in the red (almost). Funny smell too. Ac works fine. Runs great! Just bought today so please help! Oh ya coolent levels are good.
The cooling system may need to be serviced which is one of the things that is never done. The orange antifreeze has a life of 5 years and 150,000 miles and if it has never been flushed out, there may some crystal formation causing a restricted flow of antifreeze through the system. Try flushing out the cooling system with Preston radiator flush, use the dry power flush rather then the one from the bottle. Follow the instructions and replace the antifreeze with a 50/50 (water/antifreeze) mix, if you not sure how to mix it. You can buy them premixed 50/50. Too much water will boil over and too much antifreeze will gel up causing overheating. If you like you can replace the thermostat too, but that's not that easy on the 3.4 liter engines. If you go to Auto Zone you can pick up the antifreeze, radiator flush, and thermostat with the step by step instructions needed to get the job done. Keep me posted, be glad to answer any other questions you may have and good luck friend.
I agree with molson02536,
Over time the "green" coolant looses its "Cooling" ability, this coolant also becomes Acidic and Corrodes the inside of the engine. Its Recommended to use dexcool, 50/50 mix for the average Joe,as stated by molson02536.
DEXCOOL FTW! :D
Thormostat and radiator
SOURCE: Running hot coolent is fine...
check for a blown head gasket it will sometimes pump air into the heads and make the coolant levels seem fine but in truth they are not and check the water pump for rusted fins make shure the water level sucks down during sharp throtteling of the motor if so the cooling system is fine as far as that goes but where to start
1.) tempature switch located on the motor it tells the ecu when to kick on the cooling fan
2.) fans spin freely without taking force
3.) thermostat it could be stuck closed due to someone at sometime only running water without antifreez and causing the pressure pin to rust and freeze the gate shut
4.) monitor the water levels if they go down suddenly as 1 gallon of water a week or 2 weeks its a bad head gasket you can see this on spark plugs as well
and for most your water pump make shure you get good heat from the heater at low running tempatures and start the car and monitor what the water in the radiator does (while its cold) the water in a car is over 195% and can easily do harm if the car is just warmed up not even close to over heating so you can imagine what it could do at an over heated state
but get the problem fixed or else you can result in blown head gaskets water in the oil piston breakdown do to rust in the piston walls and even worse complete engine failure
395 views
Usually answered in minutes!
ok but what should I try first Coolent is fine so thermostat? Should I takeback to dealer was sold as is...
×