This car is testing me...
zephram22
09-06-2005, 02:52 AM
Disclaimer: The top part explains what happened. My questions are at the bottom. You may not have the read the explanation to answer the questions. Thanks everyone, I know I'm being a pain. I'm sorry for that. But my baby has something wrong and you guys seem to be the only people that actually know about these cars.
OK. I sure you all know about the problems that my 02 Shortstar (3.5) is having. I've fixed the majority of my problems. There is still one confusing (but possibly very damaging and dangerous) one lurking. I'm talking about a carkiller here...OVERHEATING. From what I've read, it seems that Auroras are plagued with this problem. I can understand since the engine runs hot in these cars.
I've tried a few things to fix the car.
I took it to a mechanic. He changed the thermostat and refilled the coolant using the vacuum fill system they have. Still overheated. Yesterday, I changed the coolant myself and examined the new thermostat. I had a vacuum lock problem between the radiator and thermostat. I went out and bought a special wrench designed to remove the hose clamps (mine are not the screw type, they are just the spring type). The tool cost 50 dollars and it seemed to work. I removed the hose going from the radiator to the thermostat. For a while, close to 30 miles, the car worked perfect. No overheating, no vacuum problems. Heck, even the thermostat finally appeared to be working. Didn't last long though. Driving down the highway, I noticed a steam trail coming from the engine bay. I pulled over and stopped. Checked under the hood and there was a huge puddle of antifreeze all over. This system seems to be running way over pressured. I took the cap off and released the pressure. Antifreeze tank went from empty to completly full. Then the anti-freeze began gurgling back into the system and the level in the tank went down. I've been carrying anti-freeze in the car, so I top it off and headed to the state fair which was only about two miles away.
Well, I had the wife go into the fair without me while I checked over the engine for leaks, ect. I noticed the hose from radiator to the thermostat was beginning to slip off the thermostat housing. I put it back on and started the engine. Then, revved the engine to put some pressure on the cooling system. Hose started slipping off again. But, this was the least of my problems.
I was checking the upper hose and noticed that the spring clamp looked loose. I was fiddling around with it and it slid down the hose. I'm not sure how to acurately describe what I mean. I'll try though. Um...OK. The radiator inlet is a flange about 1.5 inches in length. The hose slides over the inlet. Instead of thee clamp being on the part of the hose that covers the inlet flange, it had slid onto the part of the hose between the outlet from the engine and the inlet to the radiator. Long story short, I tried to get the clamp to get back to the right position for about 3 hours in the state fair parking lot. It was late when the wife came back to the car but I kept trying to make things right. I ended up breaking the clamp. I was willing to try anything. I had some zip ties in the car, so I tried to secure the hose to the radiator using those (as a temporary fix). The ties held up fine with the car idling. But I was afriad the they would fail as soon as I got any speed on the road. Eventually, I had to find a state trooper, who called me a taxi. I took that taxi to a parts store and had him drop me off back at the parking lot. Nice...A 29 dollar taxi ride to buy a friggin 2 dollar clamp. I decided to buy the kind that uses a screw to tighten it.
Got back to the car. Had to quickly pull the radiator hose off so I could remove the zip ties and the old clamp. Covered my hands in antifreeze too. Got the clamp on, topped off the fluid and checked for leaks. None. I managed to get the car home from the fair (a distance of about thirty miles). Of course, the car overheated but, I didn't have to stop once. When I saw that it was overheating, I flipped on the AC switch (I had the heat on all the way home. Only had the heat with AC only when it overheated) and the temp went down. Also threw the car into neutral after I was doing the speed limit. It took a while to get home, but I did make it.
***Heres the first question. Should I replace all the clamps in the system with the screw type hose clamp? I've heard that they are more secure than the factory spring clamps.***
***I'm going to replace the water pump sometime this week. I seems to be the last thing I can try before I had to face the fact that I might need serious repairs. Would it be better to buy an OEM style pump, or a good solid aftermarket pump, if I can find it?***
***When I flushed my system the other day, I noticed that the thermostat cannot be removed from it's housing. I did get a good amount of the coolant out of the engine. But, is there anyway to rig of the cooling system to bypass the thermostat or remove it was the picture completly? I think that the therm is the reason why I'm having a problem with vacuum lock.*
I'm going to check some other posts online. Sory if this question has already been answered
OK. I sure you all know about the problems that my 02 Shortstar (3.5) is having. I've fixed the majority of my problems. There is still one confusing (but possibly very damaging and dangerous) one lurking. I'm talking about a carkiller here...OVERHEATING. From what I've read, it seems that Auroras are plagued with this problem. I can understand since the engine runs hot in these cars.
I've tried a few things to fix the car.
I took it to a mechanic. He changed the thermostat and refilled the coolant using the vacuum fill system they have. Still overheated. Yesterday, I changed the coolant myself and examined the new thermostat. I had a vacuum lock problem between the radiator and thermostat. I went out and bought a special wrench designed to remove the hose clamps (mine are not the screw type, they are just the spring type). The tool cost 50 dollars and it seemed to work. I removed the hose going from the radiator to the thermostat. For a while, close to 30 miles, the car worked perfect. No overheating, no vacuum problems. Heck, even the thermostat finally appeared to be working. Didn't last long though. Driving down the highway, I noticed a steam trail coming from the engine bay. I pulled over and stopped. Checked under the hood and there was a huge puddle of antifreeze all over. This system seems to be running way over pressured. I took the cap off and released the pressure. Antifreeze tank went from empty to completly full. Then the anti-freeze began gurgling back into the system and the level in the tank went down. I've been carrying anti-freeze in the car, so I top it off and headed to the state fair which was only about two miles away.
Well, I had the wife go into the fair without me while I checked over the engine for leaks, ect. I noticed the hose from radiator to the thermostat was beginning to slip off the thermostat housing. I put it back on and started the engine. Then, revved the engine to put some pressure on the cooling system. Hose started slipping off again. But, this was the least of my problems.
I was checking the upper hose and noticed that the spring clamp looked loose. I was fiddling around with it and it slid down the hose. I'm not sure how to acurately describe what I mean. I'll try though. Um...OK. The radiator inlet is a flange about 1.5 inches in length. The hose slides over the inlet. Instead of thee clamp being on the part of the hose that covers the inlet flange, it had slid onto the part of the hose between the outlet from the engine and the inlet to the radiator. Long story short, I tried to get the clamp to get back to the right position for about 3 hours in the state fair parking lot. It was late when the wife came back to the car but I kept trying to make things right. I ended up breaking the clamp. I was willing to try anything. I had some zip ties in the car, so I tried to secure the hose to the radiator using those (as a temporary fix). The ties held up fine with the car idling. But I was afriad the they would fail as soon as I got any speed on the road. Eventually, I had to find a state trooper, who called me a taxi. I took that taxi to a parts store and had him drop me off back at the parking lot. Nice...A 29 dollar taxi ride to buy a friggin 2 dollar clamp. I decided to buy the kind that uses a screw to tighten it.
Got back to the car. Had to quickly pull the radiator hose off so I could remove the zip ties and the old clamp. Covered my hands in antifreeze too. Got the clamp on, topped off the fluid and checked for leaks. None. I managed to get the car home from the fair (a distance of about thirty miles). Of course, the car overheated but, I didn't have to stop once. When I saw that it was overheating, I flipped on the AC switch (I had the heat on all the way home. Only had the heat with AC only when it overheated) and the temp went down. Also threw the car into neutral after I was doing the speed limit. It took a while to get home, but I did make it.
***Heres the first question. Should I replace all the clamps in the system with the screw type hose clamp? I've heard that they are more secure than the factory spring clamps.***
***I'm going to replace the water pump sometime this week. I seems to be the last thing I can try before I had to face the fact that I might need serious repairs. Would it be better to buy an OEM style pump, or a good solid aftermarket pump, if I can find it?***
***When I flushed my system the other day, I noticed that the thermostat cannot be removed from it's housing. I did get a good amount of the coolant out of the engine. But, is there anyway to rig of the cooling system to bypass the thermostat or remove it was the picture completly? I think that the therm is the reason why I'm having a problem with vacuum lock.*
I'm going to check some other posts online. Sory if this question has already been answered
zephram22
09-06-2005, 02:59 AM
I forgot to put this in the post.
There is a black rubber line that looks like it is coming off the engine block or the valvle covers. Eitherway, it is in the rear of the engine. This line goings into what looks like the blower motor. It's on the left hand side of the engine bay (driver). When I remove the hose from the blower area, I can hear air hissing from the hose. Is this hose part of the cooling system? Should it have coolant in it. Or, is it completly unrelated?
There is a black rubber line that looks like it is coming off the engine block or the valvle covers. Eitherway, it is in the rear of the engine. This line goings into what looks like the blower motor. It's on the left hand side of the engine bay (driver). When I remove the hose from the blower area, I can hear air hissing from the hose. Is this hose part of the cooling system? Should it have coolant in it. Or, is it completly unrelated?
tjm
09-06-2005, 03:45 PM
Zeph - that sucks - I wish i had a 2nd Gen 3.5 so i could help ya out more.
couple o basics though -
are you sure the cap is good - it should vent if ya have too much pressure; but then extra pressure would actually cool better until something pops.
thermostat spring side to the engine - they can get stuck too - try the car without the thermostat - usually without a thermostat a car will run a little hotter than normal because the flow is faster than the radiator can cool but it may help you narrow it down.
water pump impeller may have sheared from the shaft but that is typically noisy.
oh, and the fans DO come on right?
couple o basics though -
are you sure the cap is good - it should vent if ya have too much pressure; but then extra pressure would actually cool better until something pops.
thermostat spring side to the engine - they can get stuck too - try the car without the thermostat - usually without a thermostat a car will run a little hotter than normal because the flow is faster than the radiator can cool but it may help you narrow it down.
water pump impeller may have sheared from the shaft but that is typically noisy.
oh, and the fans DO come on right?
Bidderboy
09-06-2005, 05:49 PM
I'm no Mechanic, but I think you should make sure you don't have a blown Head Gasket before you do anymore work on it. I had a Chevy 6.2 Diesel that I put lots of money in before I had it checked and it was a blown Head Gasket. The compressed air in the cylinder was pushing air past the head gasket into the cooling system. It pushing the anti-freeze out the overflow and when the fluid got low it over heated.
zephram22
09-06-2005, 06:32 PM
Zeph - that sucks - I wish i had a 2nd Gen 3.5 so i could help ya out more.
couple o basics though -
are you sure the cap is good - it should vent if ya have too much pressure; but then extra pressure would actually cool better until something pops.
thermostat spring side to the engine - they can get stuck too - try the car without the thermostat - usually without a thermostat a car will run a little hotter than normal because the flow is faster than the radiator can cool but it may help you narrow it down.
water pump impeller may have sheared from the shaft but that is typically noisy.
oh, and the fans DO come on right?
Yeah. Fans are coming on. Although I noticed that the only way I could get them to come on while I was stopped in the parking lot, idleing, was to turn on the AC. Can be sure that they are running while I'm driving down the road. When the car does overheat and I turn off the engine, the fans are running then. But, they are supposed to be. I may have a bad connection somewhere because the overheating problem is intermittent. It doesn't always happen. Actually, didn't happen at all today.
The thermostat is in correctly. There is actually only one way it can go in since the thermostat and thermostat housing are a single piece and cannot be seperated. Either way, I don't think the thermostat is the problem because it is actly exactly the way it did before the thermostat was replaced.
I'm pretty sure that my problem is air in the lines. I'm gonna check that tommrrow. I have a new water pump and hoses and clamps coming from Napa. Although, if the car decides not to overheat tonight, I may wait on installing them. I might also flush the system out a second time. I'll let you knopw what happens.
couple o basics though -
are you sure the cap is good - it should vent if ya have too much pressure; but then extra pressure would actually cool better until something pops.
thermostat spring side to the engine - they can get stuck too - try the car without the thermostat - usually without a thermostat a car will run a little hotter than normal because the flow is faster than the radiator can cool but it may help you narrow it down.
water pump impeller may have sheared from the shaft but that is typically noisy.
oh, and the fans DO come on right?
Yeah. Fans are coming on. Although I noticed that the only way I could get them to come on while I was stopped in the parking lot, idleing, was to turn on the AC. Can be sure that they are running while I'm driving down the road. When the car does overheat and I turn off the engine, the fans are running then. But, they are supposed to be. I may have a bad connection somewhere because the overheating problem is intermittent. It doesn't always happen. Actually, didn't happen at all today.
The thermostat is in correctly. There is actually only one way it can go in since the thermostat and thermostat housing are a single piece and cannot be seperated. Either way, I don't think the thermostat is the problem because it is actly exactly the way it did before the thermostat was replaced.
I'm pretty sure that my problem is air in the lines. I'm gonna check that tommrrow. I have a new water pump and hoses and clamps coming from Napa. Although, if the car decides not to overheat tonight, I may wait on installing them. I might also flush the system out a second time. I'll let you knopw what happens.
zephram22
09-06-2005, 06:34 PM
I'm no Mechanic, but I think you should make sure you don't have a blown Head Gasket before you do anymore work on it. I had a Chevy 6.2 Diesel that I put lots of money in before I had it checked and it was a blown Head Gasket. The compressed air in the cylinder was pushing air past the head gasket into the cooling system. It pushing the anti-freeze out the overflow and when the fluid got low it over heated.
I took it to the mechanic and they were pretty sure that I wasn't having a problem with the head gasket. I'm going to take it to a cadillac dealer at some point. I've read that mechanics who are familiar with the Northstar are more likely to fix any problems that one would have with the shortstar, 3.5.
I took it to the mechanic and they were pretty sure that I wasn't having a problem with the head gasket. I'm going to take it to a cadillac dealer at some point. I've read that mechanics who are familiar with the Northstar are more likely to fix any problems that one would have with the shortstar, 3.5.
zephram22
09-07-2005, 11:55 PM
The car is running perfect all of a sudden. Thermostat is opening (both the inlet and outlet from the radiator are hot). Car isn't overheating...I hope this lasts.
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