'95 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme getting really hot but not overheating HELP!

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

Hello, I have a 95 olds as you can tell and for some odd reason the temp needle in the dash reads up to but not in the red. So I thought maybe it was the thermostat sensor, changed that out, no change. I have done a radiator flush, I changed thermostat, replaced the water pump and it is still causing the problem of getting hot but not overheating. I don't know what to do now, the water pump isn't making any noise, the fans in front of the radiator come on, the top radiator hose is not too firm but not too squishy. I am so flustered right now, can anyone help me, please

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF.

Hard to say since you didnt mention your engine, mileage etcetc.

OH and do not bring up threads older then 3 months!
All those you brought up, are now closed, and you duplicate posts on this have been deleted.

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

Sorry about that, this my first ever forum. Anyhow, my Olds. is a 3.1 V6 with 110k. After I placed the threads, I went out to my car and looked over it one more time, I'm stumped and sctratching my head wondering if God hates me. Please, if you need more information, let me know. Thanks

[Dastardly]

I seen your post in another thread, and you said the car is running at 200 degrees? Does your guage have the numbers? like 100 200 and so on. Also you want to check/replace the Temperature Sender, its behind the engine, near the Oxygen sensor, and it tells the fans to kick on. Also there is another sensor near the throttle, which is the for the guage inside. So it might be your guage sensor.

[xeroinfinity]

Originally Posted by 95CutlassSupremeSL

Sorry about that, this my first ever forum. Anyhow, my Olds. is a 3.1 V6 with 110k. After I placed the threads, I went out to my car and looked over it one more time, I'm stumped and sctratching my head wondering if God hates me. Please, if you need more information, let me know. Thanks

Thats Ok and I understand.

I dont know about God hating you, but I would say its quite possible you have either a head gasket or lower intake gasket goin out. The LI is pretty common, if left unattended it can damage the head gaskets and or the engine.

Any white stuff in the oil ?
Coolant look funny ?

If you just flushed the radiator you might not have gotten the whole system cleaned. If they are realy nasty it can take tow or more flushes to clear the system.

Originally Posted by Dastardly

I seen your post in another thread, and you said the car is running at 200 degrees? Does your guage have the numbers? like 100 200 and so on. Also you want to check/replace the Temperature Sender, its behind the engine, near the Oxygen sensor, and it tells the fans to kick on. Also there is another sensor near the throttle, which is the for the guage inside. So it might be your guage sensor

I would disagreee with that!
His temp sending unit in at the end of the top radiator hose, in the intake.


95CutlassSupremeSL, 200 deg can be normal running temp, for years my 99 GA SE ran at 200deg(maybe up to 205 deg at traffic lights during the summer) with practicly new everthing gaskets and heads/intakes.
I changed the thermostat to a lower temp, 185 deg, and now it runs lower.
The problem is, during the winter the heater doesn't blow as Hot when on high heat.
So I just cover part of the radiator with cardboard when it's 30 deg out or below, constantly.
You just have to remember to remove it when it warms up, or it could overheat.

Hope that helps

[Dastardly]

@xeroinfinity Well I know for a fact that the Temperature Sender for the fans near the Oxygen sensor kicks the fans on, only because my fans would not come on, unless my A/C was running. And because I had replaced the other Temp sensor near the throttle body/thermostat, and they still refused to kick on. If im wrong then my 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass supreme SL must be different from the other's.

I've seen on many sites, these two sensor's are almost or sometimes sold as under the same name, and until I actually found the one near the 02 Oxygen sensor, my fans refused to come on.

EDIT: To make more sense of what I'm saying, The Temperature sensor near the throttle body has Yellow and Black wire. The one near the O2 Oxygen sensor has only a single light green wire, and it is a Temperature sendor/switch.

Here is the picture of the Yellow/Black wire Temp sensor:


Here is the picture of the Single Green Wire Temp sender/switch:



@95CutlassSupremeSL Also make sure there is no AIR in the cooling system, this will cause your tempature to rise quickly!

[HotZ28]

Links in the post above that did not work, were edited to show pic.

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

Thanks for replying back guys

Dastardly: I am not exactly sure if the car is running at 200 degrees or not, the guage looks like the one below but its not from my car, the temprature needle goes all the way up to but not into the red. It takes about 15 minutes in weather condidtions consisting of 40 to 60 degrees to get that warm. How would I clear the air bubbles out of the coolant jackets? And how do I know if there is any?


Xeroinfinity: I just went out and looked at the coolant and the oil, no white stuff in the oil and the color of the coolant is the Dex-cool orange.


Both: I'm going to try and change out the temprature sender near the O2 sensor and see if that works. Just curious but do you guys know of where the O2 sensor is exactly? Ill probably get another radiator flush, have you guys ever heard of a power flush? If none of this stuff works, any of yall got a sledge hammer that I could borrow. And thanks for being helpful guys

[Dastardly]

Originally Posted by 95CutlassSupremeSL

Thanks for replying back guys

Dastardly: I am not exactly sure if the car is running at 200 degrees or not, the guage looks like the one below but its not from my car, the temprature needle goes all the way up to but not into the red. It takes about 15 minutes in weather condidtions consisting of 40 to 60 degrees to get that warm. How would I clear the air bubbles out of the coolant jackets? And how do I know if there is any?


Both: I'm going to try and change out the temprature sender near the O2 sensor and see if that works. Just curious but do you guys know of where the O2 sensor is exactly? Ill probably get another radiator flush, have you guys ever heard of a power flush? If none of this stuff works, any of yall got a sledge hammer that I could borrow. And thanks for being helpful guys

Here is a picture showing where the bleeder valve is

Start the car up, let it warm up, then take a flat head screwdriver and slowly unscrew the bleeder valve. Don't unscrew it much. If there is air in the system, you should see the fluid coming out with bubbles, and if no air then it will come out in a small stream. If there is air, wait till you see a stream of fluid, then tighten back. Just be careful while doing this.

As I said before, the Temperature sender near the O2 oxygen sensor tell the fans to come on, so if your fans are coming on, that shouldn't be the issue.

And the one near the thermostat/throttle body, is for the guage. Possibly that is bad.

As I said in above posts, this is how the sensors work in my car. No one has to take my word for it, nor listen to me lol. You can research the two sensors more on google, or call your mechanic.

[xeroinfinity]

Dastardly, I have a 95 right here, right now, I'll take some pics to see how its laid out.....

http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/g...3d800e5644.gif

95CutlassSupremeSL the O2 is behind by the fire wall its in the exhaust manifold.

I wouldnt just replace the ECT, you can test it to see if its realy bad or not. Try this link for test procedures.

Also the bleeder valve is on top of the water pump, black tube brass fitting. You can do it from the thermo housing but it wont get it all out!
Here's a link to help with that also....
Bleeding Your Cooling System

Also here is a pic of the engine components locations.
As you see thier are is not 2 temp senders(ECT).

I'll try post a few pics this after noon.

[HotZ28]

If the car has a gage in the IC cluster, it has the one wire temp sensor in addition to the two wire sensor used by the ECU.

[Dastardly]

Just to show what my guage looks like, (this is from my cars user manual), and I have drawn arrows with destcriptions on how my cooling works. I know this is not how the 95 and up Cutlasses Temp gauges look, but incase anyone has doubts about their cooling.

[xeroinfinity]

You are right HotZ28 it is for the gauge.
I didnt have time to get a pic, its pretty well hidden back thier thats for sure.

Yeah Dastardly, that's what I was saying his temps are with in normal range, and its not impossible to buy a new thermostat and it not work properly.

So if its not broke, dont fix it.

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

Evening or whatever,

I changed out the temprature sensor and temprature sender, including the relay's for the fans just in case. Sadly, none of those changes made any difference, just worse. Now it runs in the red, so I started freaking out, I pulled the car over, opened the hood, no steam nothing, not a rush of warm air when I opened the hood, nothing. I was thankful, but I got curious, I put my hand lightly on top of the head, it was barely warm. Just to be precautious I let the car cool down, luckily I was close to base, so it didnt take long to get back to work. I drove my car back to my shop (I'm a generator mechanic, new to it) I found a temprature gauge, one of those that you stick in a turkey or something, it was rated at 300 degrees. I stuck it in the side of radiator fins (now I know I won't get the best reading) and turned the car on, I let it run until the needle on the dash got up the red, I checked the temprature gauge, guess what, 200!!! I was shocked, if it was overheating or as hot as the guage in my dash said then it would be passed 250, right? I took it to a radiator shop, the radiator dude looked it over for about 15-20 mintues, he told that the car seems to be running perfectly normal, I asked him 3 or 4 times are you sure. He was sure, I had driven it for 45 minutes just to get it to this place, so if it definitely didnt overheat, then? He suggested it may be something electricl from the ECM or ECU to the dash. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? I will try bleeding it tommorow if its not to cold. I'll let you know what happens, Thanks

[Ryanolds95]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

Just to show what my guage looks like, (this is from my cars user manual), and I have drawn arrows with destcriptions on how my cooling works. I know this is not how the 95 and up Cutlasses Temp gauges look, but incase anyone has doubts about their cooling.

Sense your gauge is different can you tell us what it is out of ?