1996 Pontaic GA

Hello everyone,

I think I have a serious problem. I have a 96 grand am and for some reason the temp gauge is going past the bold white line nearing the red marker. I also noticed that when the car starts to overheat and I have the heater on, no heat comes in but rather cold air. I checked the fan and it seems to be working and on. I am not sure what it is. Should I have the mechanic remove the thermostat (new one was put in just over a year ago)? I fear I will get stuck in the highway. Even when I am traveling 55 mph the gauge goes extremely high.

You checked the fan, but how about the coolant level? Assuming you have coolant, it sounds like the thermostat may not be opening or there is some other blockage causing little or no flow of coolant through the system.

You checked the fan, but how about the coolant level? Assuming you have coolant, it sounds like the thermostat may not be opening or there is some other blockage causing little or no flow of coolant through the system.Coolant level is fine. Should I have the mechanic remove the thermostat? Would this cause any problems?

I would get it looked at, if it is not opening then you are not getting the proper flow of the coolant. If the coolant level is ok you can check the upper and lower hoses if you get the car up to operating temp and feel the upper hose and then the lower if one is cooler that the other it would mostlikely be the thermostat or some other type of blockage.

Hope thus helps.

When you say remove the thermostat, do you mean remove it to inspect it and possibly replace it? You wouldn't want to just remove it and go without a thermostat--it's absolutely necessary to keep your engine operating at the right temperature.

In the days of yor you used to put a thermostat into hot water and bring it up to a boil or so to see it it opens. When in doubt for the cheapness of the part just replace it with a good brandname 1. I happen to like STANT. Maybe others have their favs. Ive seen them half open .cockeyed, in backwards. If its simple to get 2 just do it like the commercial says.

On a side note I've had thermostats of every name go bad within 6 months so the time means nothing. The Stant 1s seem to have worked well and long for me. A good quality part always performs better than the 1s that are 2 for $6.99. Get the proper 1 for your car as far as temp go's. It is important to have the engine up to the proper temp or other bad bad things may happen. I know these cars are a pain since I have 2--A 98 and a 200GT--My 7 year ols college fund will have to wait.

Have you ever had the cooling system in the car Flushed before?? I work at a lube shop and have had people come in with the same problem, a majority of the time after the flush things work properly again. If you do everything else above and your still having trouble you might want to look into getting the cooling system flushed. flushing the system cleans out the dirt and sludge that builds up in the cooling system which can cause clogging and over heating.