Overheating with a 94 cavi?

first, I did read the post about the 96 cavi.

now, i noticed tonight when idling in my car (no lights, no ac, no wipers going) the car just started to sound real loud. ( i was idling for about an hour). I go out to investigate the engine and it looks like everything is spinning and running. The temperature also got pretty hot, it went up to about 200 (while just idling) and everything around the engine was pretty hot to the touch. I have to say the sound the car was making kind of sounded like a lawnmower (its kind of a bad example, it wasnt as loud but it had the same effect) . Tomorrow im going to check my oil, but aside from that I have no idea what the problem could be. Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks again.

-Daniel D.M.

On a side note, no engine lights have come on at all, not check oil, check all gauges, or anything at all.

I am talking about my 94cavi, 2.2L.

I also just replaced my alt., i want to say the noise sounded like it was coming from somewhere on the serp belt, but i just cant be sure.

in addition, today i noticed my fan isnt working. i also noticed my car had trouble changing gears (its automatic) before that noise and overheating came.
also. the noise actually sounds more like this: (if you take take a stick and bang it across a chainlink fence, like walk with it hitting it real fast.)

What's the mileage? I have 200k and it's needs a radiator flush asap, it will run hotter and overheat easier, you may have to ride around with the heat on until it's fixed. It's a shame my heater core does a better job cooling than my radiator, for now.

it only has 37k. it was an old ladys car. so in theory, it should be running good. i also doubt the radiator would be causing the noise. it may though, i dont really know.

Want to trade? LOL! That's low miles for a 94! Hang on to that one.

The fan only comes on when it hits 180, or half way, then shut off at 140-160. Is the radiator full?

would you be able to tell me how i could check it. do you think the noise could be from the radiator? thx again.

Hmm you said it sounded like the it was coming from the serpentine belt? Possibly a water pump's bearing failing.

My 94Cav made noise very much like yours this past winter. I checked and replaced the serpentine belt and paid close attn to retightening the tension pulley. Check to ensure the pulley is neither too loose nor too tightened. You'll notice it self adjust as you retighten the adj nut. Make sure you don't loosen the adj nut farther than the point where it fully xtends the belt. If the noise remains, then I too would suspect either the pulley proper; or one of the other pumps' bearings.

Tookie

thats what I was afraid of. Ill readjust the serp. belt tonight and let you know how things are going with it. what do you mean though for tightening/loosening the belt, when I pull on the nut for the idler pulley i believe it just moves away to the side, is there a way to actually loosen this? I dont think my belt has gone bad, but at this point im hoping it has, it seemed in good shape last time i checked it out.
on a side note, what do you mean by the pulley proper, and do you think it will be a big bill if i bring it to a mechanic for that, I wouldnt know how to do it myself.

Thanks again.

~Daniel D.M.

thats what I was afraid of. Ill readjust the serp. belt tonight and let you know how things are going with it. what do you mean though for tightening/loosening the belt, when I pull on the nut for the idler pulley i believe it just moves away to the side, is there a way to actually loosen this? I dont think my belt has gone bad, but at this point im hoping it has, it seemed in good shape last time i checked it out.
on a side note, what do you mean by the pulley proper, and do you think it will be a big bill if i bring it to a mechanic for that, I wouldnt know how to do it myself.

Thanks again.

~Daniel D.M.

There may be some design diff here. On my cav, the adj nut, when pushed towards the firewall will allow the pulley to mover in the same direction, thus allowing easy install of the belt. When you pull the nut towards the front of the car, the pulley returns and exerts tension. Further pulling loosens the nut further; but offers no more tension. This will however; result in the nut loosening to the point where the whole tensioning unit begins to yaw sideways.
By "pulley proper" I mean the bearings in that part may be worn to the point where they become noisy.
If you look closely at the whole tensioner assembly, you see it can be quite easy to replace, with minimum effort, experience, and best of all very few, simple tools. For a job like this, even a $50 for labor bill is rather steep; as the pulley/tension assy can be found cheaply at any 2nd hand scrapyard for pretty cheap. A new assy costs _much_ more!
As for the belt, if you intend to replace the unit anyway, try a couple of sprays of Belt Dressing on the belt to see if the sound lessens or even goes away. Use this stuff sparingly though. It likes to soften rubber components, like belts. A good fix for belt slippage though.
hth

Tookie

and heres an update for everyone:
i was tooling around with the car and noticed that when the cars AC is on, the sound goes away... when i have the fan running (with no AC) the sound does come back but its not as noticable...
(AC is just a button it doesnt necessarily mean cool air, playing with defrost doesnt achieve the same affect.)

any ideas?

so... any ideas guys.

Sounds like there's some debris in the fan motor or the fan motor is going out, but more than likely a small twig or something. You will have to remove the cowl and the black airbox cover to get to it, it's very easy. If you don't see anything from there you may have to open the fan motor itself, not sure on how difficult that would be. G'luck!

ok. i see what your saying and ill take a look later tonight, but the sound is there even when the fan isnt on, and even when i have no air running in my car. So.... also. do you mean the fan thats in the front of the engine? or the ac/heat fan.

-Daniel D.M.

in addition, i still get air blowing out of my vents, if i set it to cold i get cold air, if i set it to hot i get hot air so.... you sure its that fan? and is it okay to drive with that noise, if not, is it okay to drive with the ac on so that noise isnt there?

my roommates car makes the same noise and they told him it was the timing chain. he drives a mazda though :loser: . my cavalier has yet to make a sound like that. I'm not even sure if cavy's have a "timing chain". but you might want to look into that.

well. wouldnt the timing chain be the equivalent of the accessory belt (aka. serpentine belt) ?
Thanks for the info. Im just going to take it to a mechanic that gives free estimates, this is boggling the hell out of me. I have a lifetime warranty on my alternator, so im kind of hoping its that. thanks for the info though.