2000 alero heating up

I have a 2000 alero 3.4 L with 160K on it, I have luckily used this forum to fix many of its other issues.

I wrecked this car and set off the airbags. I fixed it and I now have some issues.

1)the car overheats, I have seen the head gasket/lim issues. I think this car had the headgasket and lim replaced earlier in its life. I took a hitch in the hood latch region and the radiator was deflected a bit. But the car will cool itself, it just seems like it loses the battle after extended rpm on highway. I flushed out the system. It will cool itself at idle or even on back roads. Oh yeah, I found that the fans didn't seem to want to come on so I wired them to turn on with the vehicle. That seemed to help a little. It just seems like it is falling behind after being run for a bit. I am thinking it is the radiator, but it was doing this slightly before the accident. That could have been the fans not coming on though or something else. Doesn't seem like water is getting in the oil. Where do you think I should start, I did notice the oring is bad in the radiator cap but it seems like it would still seal.

2) When I fixed the car I did the airbags myself. I know that probably isn't advised. I got a great deal but don't know if this will work in the end, works for now. The airbags were a lighter grey than my dash. Their plugs all were the same size. The reset module that came with the bags had a different pin hookup, so I slid off the clear clip and hooked it up. I tested this and installed it all slowly checking to see if anything was going to blow. I have the airbag lights on in my dash. Do you think I should have the airbag module that was in the car reset and put that back in? Will that make the alarm go off.

3) The electric doors suck. They either quit working or the plastic pieces break, can the little white plastic pieces that move the window up and down from a rear be put on the front of the same side.

You could possibly have a radiator issue, or maybe even an thermostat issue.

You need to replaced the SDM module, I am not aware of a procedure to "reset" this module. The new modlue also needs to be set up in the BCM.

I'm not quite sure what you are looking for on the "electronic door" condition, a little more info?

Since the thermostat is cheap I guess I should try that first,

I think I was calling the reset module the SDM. The thing under the passenger seat, well I got one with the airbags. But it didn't plug into the plug because of the clear plastic piece that stopped the 2 from plugging into one another. So I removed it and plugged in the part that came with the airbags. I thought there was a way to send these little boxes somewhere to have their data cleared to function again, that way I can plug it back in with that clear plastic piece.

Do you think that the slight discoloration from the airbags will make them not work, don't know if it is cosmetic or means something about the model of airbag system.

I think I just need to get new door internals

Just because the cover on the air bag is discolored, does not mean it has a problem, maybe just sun faded? If you know of a place that will refurbish the SDM, then go for it. I would for sure use the original, ot get a new one for that vehicle. I have only installed NEW SDM's and they need to be relearned in the BCM or the air bag lamp will stay on. This requires a special procedure with a scanner thats able to do that.

The reason I said it had a light grey, was that when ordering them online it said that there was a difference and it is a different grey not a sunfaded difference. A charcoal dark vs. a light color. But the components had the same plugs, I did buy a functional unit, maybe there is a way for the bcm to be functional with this unit. The airbags and SDM were supposed to be for this vehicle so I don't know that I can order one and get what I need. I will check into the reprogramming of my standard sdm and then see if I can get the bcm going with it.

thanks for the help.

Your welcome and good luck!

The SDM part number will need to be synchronized with the BCM using a capable scan tool. If it overheats while driving on the highway, but not at idle, the radiator is likely partially restricted. I would recommend replacing the cap also. They are cheap enough and if it can't hold proper pressure the coolant boiling point will be lower.