Coolant system woes

Greets,

I've had my '00 Intrigue GL for a year now.

Outta the blu, my temp gauge shows the engine is running hot (after 30 mins driving)... then spikes to the max. Engine is exhibiting popping noise, too. Doing the safe thing I pulled over to cool down (did I mention it was -4F this day?)

I opened the hood to verify the expansion tank is nominal... it was showing levels at "full hot." Next, I did the touch test on all visible coolant hoses... they are all warm at best.

EXCEPT... The lower hose going from a housing on the engine block (pass side) to bottom of radiator. This hose is not even warm (minutes after registering an overheat).

I am mildly baffled with the new set-up of the the expansion tank as an integral part of the cooling system. But, my history with older cars leads me to believe this is a thermostat thing.

Is this housing on the left of motor (cold hose) the thermostat housing?

Am I missing anything?

Any input is appreciated!
TIA

Jaws O.

"Day without light is like... night"

i have a 2000 intrigue too and it's doing the same exact thing. i bought it 6 months ago and i would hate to have to put it in the shop i owe enough on it now as it is. if you figure out what it is would you please email me at perrycraft@peoplepc.com and if i find out before you i'll let you know. thanks

My first plan of action would be to replace the thermostat, bleed the cooling system and go from there. It sounds like a thermostat kind of a thing. Make sure you bleed the cooling system properly or you may still have overheating problems. I know there is at least 1 bleed screw on this car, maybe 2, but my factory service manual doesn't say where they are. Water pump might be my second guess. Hopefully it's not a headgasket/engine problem.

Let us know what fixes it!

i have a 2000 intrigue too and it's doing the same exact thing. i bought it 6 months ago and i would hate to have to put it in the shop i owe enough on it now as it is. if you figure out what it is would you please email me at perrycraft@peoplepc.com and if i find out before you i'll let you know. thanks
thanks for the info but it seems like it's something electrical because the egine isn't actually running hot there's plenty of water and no boiling or steaming you can even put your hand on the motor.but wish it was just a thermostat

I was going with jawsoflife's description of spiked temp guage and popping noise from engine. This tells me that the engine actually is overheating and the popping sound is coolant perking or boiling. The hoses are cold because the thermostat is stuck closed and there is little or no coolant flow.

Furthurmore, I would be paranoid as hell driving around with an aluminum engine that is overheating. It doesn't take much to start warping or cracking cylinder heads, etc. And the 3.5 liter Intrigue motor looks like it would be expensive to repair. :smokin:

thanks for the info but it seems like it's something electrical because the egine isn't actually running hot there's plenty of water and no boiling or steaming you can even put your hand on the motor.but wish it was just a thermostat

I have not factored out the possibility of electrical... but I think mechanical takes precidence. Consider the following:

If the thermostat is faulty (stuck closed) this means no coolant can flow to or from the radiator. Thus, inadequate cooling of the engine block. The temp gauge sensor is mounted in the block probably on the head somewhere. So, it (the gauge) more than likely IS accurately reflecting the temperature of the coolant in the block.

Let us not forget the "unknown" of this scenario.

What is the low and high values of the temp. gauge scale??

For all we know, the max reading of the gauge is 212 degrees (total guess). This is the boiling point of plain water NOT under pressure. This is not very hot for an 8 cyl engine. But manufacturers "stoopid proof" things to help minimize damage. Consider that the coolant/water mix and the system is pressurized to aprox 10-15 PSI.... it may need to reach 300+ degrees before boiling and steam are witnessed.

"stoopid proof" calibration of the gauge to max out at 212 degrees (again, a guess) will hopefully keep the masses from doing serious motor damage.

Sure, electrical might be a simple sensor replacement... gotta find it first. And if it ends up being a short? Could take days to track it down. Dashboards are, in no way, easy to dis-assemble if it is the gauge itself.

Replacing thermostat carries more of a "known quanity" at this time: 2 bolts, three hose clamps, coolant and water.

First establishing that the cooling system is flowing as it should takes priority over eliminiating a potential of false reading.

Just my two cents.

Jaws O.

I agree!

I was going with jawsoflife's description of spiked temp guage and popping noise from engine. This tells me that the engine actually is overheating and the popping sound is coolant perking or boiling. The hoses are cold because the thermostat is stuck closed and there is little or no coolant flow.

Sorry, I must admit.... I actually read the directions (owners manual).

Can you forgive me?? ;)

The reading was interesting:

According to the owners manual... Oldsmobile designed it so the engine will not fire all of the cylinders in high engine temp situation. Theory being... to reduce the heat being generated.

I wonder if the popping is being caused by their design at work?

Hmmmm....

Jaws O.

Sorry, I must admit.... I actually read the directions (owners manual).

Can you forgive me?? ;)

The reading was interesting:

According to the owners manual... Oldsmobile designed it so the engine will not fire all of the cylinders in high engine temp situation. Theory being... to reduce the heat being generated.

I wonder if the popping is being caused by their design at work?

Hmmmm....

Jaws O.


well i have a 2001 3.5 and mine was doing the same as u described well i fooled around with it for about a month on and off again didnt drive it so i said well lets take it in for a oil change well come to find out my temp sessor was fried my engine was fine just the temp senseer well i think it didn tcost me more than 200 bucks cause i had the hoses replaced and thermosthat belts flushed everything that involed the coolant system just take it to the shop not a stealership though u pay out of your A$$ i got a quote just messing around and they said 500or more

yeah the popping or knocking definetly isn't water boiling.someone told me it was a heat sensor well i found the heat sensor but i'm going to find somebody with a snap on scanner then i'll know what the problem is i hope

can anyone tell me where i can get a repair manual for this car?i've called several part stores and none of them carries it

I have the factory manual (Helm) for my 2002, 2 books, $135

i need a repair manual for a 2000 intrigue for $19.95

yeah the popping or knocking definetly isn't water boiling.someone told me it was a heat sensor well i found the heat sensor but i'm going to find somebody with a snap on scanner then i'll know what the problem is i hope



well id take it to an autozone or to napa they uasually check them for free

And so it goes...

Purchased the dealer only part. It is an integrated thermostat and housing. It also includes the gasket, and one of the three hoses that attach to it, and the two clamps for said hose.

$47.00. Add $20 for the 2 gals of coolant from the auto parts store.

From the looks of it, the part swap itself should take no time... it is the draining of the coolant that will probably take longer to deal with. I also noticed that they convieniently mounted the alternator immdiately below the thermo housing.

Got a big 'ol snow storm barrelling down on us here in da northeast... so I am off the a heated garage to do the deed.

TTFN

And so it goes...

Purchased the dealer only part. It is an integrated thermostat and housing. It also includes the gasket, and one of the three hoses that attach to it, and the two clamps for said hose.

$47.00. Add $20 for the 2 gals of coolant from the auto parts store.

From the looks of it, the part swap itself should take no time... it is the draining of the coolant that will probably take longer to deal with. I also noticed that they convieniently mounted the alternator immdiately below the thermo housing.

Got a big 'ol snow storm barrelling down on us here in da northeast... so I am off the a heated garage to do the deed.

TTFN





I hear u man we just got smashed with the snow storm too i live in illinois and we got like oh aroun 6 inches and its stillsnowing
let me know how its goin

And so it goes...

Purchased the dealer only part. It is an integrated thermostat and housing. It also includes the gasket, and one of the three hoses that attach to it, and the two clamps for said hose.

$47.00. Add $20 for the 2 gals of coolant from the auto parts store.

From the looks of it, the part swap itself should take no time... it is the draining of the coolant that will probably take longer to deal with. I also noticed that they convieniently mounted the alternator immdiately below the thermo housing.

Got a big 'ol snow storm barrelling down on us here in da northeast... so I am off the a heated garage to do the deed.

TTFN
I took mine to a guy and he hooked a scanner up to it and would'nt you know it showed no problems.i'm going to go ahead and flush the coolant and change the thermostat too.

well i changed the thermostat and flushed the coolant now everything looks fine.thanks for all the info evryone. jaws, how much coolant did it take to fill yours back up?

By the way, did you find the coolant bleed screws? Where were they located?

i need a repair manual for a 2000 intrigue for $19.95


I went to NAPA today and ordered a Chiltons repair manual for my 98 intrigue...They told me it should be here in the morning....$20

Sorry for the delay... GREAT NEWS.... PROBLEM IS FIXED!!

Did the deed on my own, was not that bad. Certainly not the same as working on my '71,'72,'73 or '75 cutlass's (man, I miss them)

Only, piece I had to remove (outside of the part) was the plastic panel across the bottom. This allowed access to the lower radiator hose.

Unfortunatly, they have placed the tranny coolant line below the lower coolant hose. This made it difficult to remove the hose clamp for draining purposes. Normally I would not be too concerned about damaging lower hose, but nobody had one in stock.

I only collected .75 gallon (2.5 total) upon draining radiator via lower hose. The thermo housing is located on side of block (pass. side)... just above alternator. The rest of coolant is behind the piece I need to replace... did I mention it is right above the alternator?

It took me 30 minutes to find something suitable to stick up in the thermo housing and open the termostat and drain the remaining coolant. Which, by the way, is above the alternator. %-) I found a box end wrench the was "L" shaped. Not a lot of room in that area, so both dimensions had to be short.

After draining the rest... two bolts allowed the part to be replaced. Re-attach hoses and refill with the.... umm... ahhh.... orange stuff.

Looked hard for bleeders on the lines... there are none on the '00 GL model. However, I did notice a plastic screw-type plug towards the top-inside of the radiator (pass. side "tank"). I removed it during the drain process, but I put it back in prior to refill.

Easily added one gallon of the 50/50 mix before starting the engine. I was able to add another .33 gal once it was running. I noticed, that in their design, the coolant actually flows back into the resevoir via a small line when the engine is running. Initially, there was quite a bit of air "bleeding" out via the return line... after 5-7 minutes of running, the bubbling was no longer detectable.

Self bleeding design... Hmmmmmm.

Checked the level a day later and had to add a bit more to satisfy the "full cold" level. Grand total of aprox 1.5 gallons back in to the system. Coincidentally, I drained just over 1 gallon total from the car to replace the part.

Car temperature has returned to the "normal" value of no greater than one third of the gauge scale :)

And so it ends

Jaws O.

:smokin: yae bout time now when u did all of this did u see how hard it would be to replace the alternator

:smokin: yae bout time now when u did all of this did u see how hard it would be to replace the alternator


I would not look forward to it, Viper.

Had a '94 Cutlass before the Intrigue... could not even see the alternator. Cost just as much in labor as it did for part. High amperage alternators are not cheap.

Do what I can, when I can.

After that I am at the merci of the mech-a-nics!

Ok, I've had the same problems as all of you guys. Only difference is that I had the service engine light come on also. The car (my wifes) has been relitivley problem free since we bought it from a dealer. It's a 2000, 3.5L.

Anyways, since I didn't wanna take it the shop as i know I can do it myself. I order a Chiltons book from NAPA (after farting around for 1/2 hr trying to find the number in their system for it as it just came out on Jan 10 of this year. NAPA's "BALKAMP" # is 7992981. I'm waiting for the book and since I don't want any problems later I ordered a new thermostat and want to change it. As it's gonna take a couple days for the book, I wanna get started and see how far I can get.

My questions:

Where is the temperature sensor located?
Where exactly do you refill the system, and how (ie engine running with the bleed cap open?)
How do stop fluid from falling on the alternator when pulling the thermostat housing?

I attached a picture so some of you can see where all the parts are.
I removed the battery, the battery platform and the support beam to make life easier while working.

http://webpages.charter.net/fiver/Thermo.JPG

[QUOTE=Intigue] ** blah, blah, blah **

NAPA's "BALKAMP" # is 7992981.

** blah, blah, blah **

Thanks for sharing the NAPA number!!! :)

My questions:

Where is the temperature sensor located?

I am not sure of temp sensor locale. I did not need to change it to solve my dilemna. I thought I read that it was on the driver side somewhere but I am not psoitive.

Where exactly do you refill the system, and how (ie engine running with the bleed cap open?)

If you fill with bleed cap open, and run the engine... it will make a mess!! :(

Fill via the expansion tank. I filled it until the fluid level stayed put at "max cold" (aprox one gallon of 50/50 mix) Then I ran the engine with expansion tank cap off and continued to add to the expansion tank to maintain the "max cold" level. (about 10-15 mins). Put the expansion tank cap back on.

I checked tank (engine cold) over the next 72 hours and filled as needed.

How do stop fluid from falling on the alternator when pulling the thermostat housing?

This took me a little time, only because I had to find somehing that would fit up inside the thermo housing. After removing the large hose to the lower radiator. I was able to stick an "L" shaped wrench up in the opening to force open the thermostat. This allowed the coolant from the block to drain. The wrench was about 2" on one leg and 3" on the other.
The opening was still too close to the alternator for my liking. I used some cardboard... ripped it down until it fit in the space avail. It was probably about 5"x9" and resembled a "U" shaped chute.

Nothing fancy... just enough to keep the alternator dry.

When you have the new part you'll have a better idea of what's needed to open the thermostat

Hope this helps!

Thanks Jawsolife for the info, much appreciated.

I'm gonna finish the job later today, as the parts should be in around lunch time.