engine coolant

need help temp started rising but never got hot some guy at work checked radiator and said i need to put water in it so i di then when i cranked car up said low coolant then put coolant in car now car won't crank can anybody tell me something also read themanual checked the engine coolant reservoir was empty so i put in the coolant have 38oo engine where i was parked at work there was no leakinf noted til i got home and put water in radiator but have not driven the car what should i do need help

Sounds like there may be air in the cooling system and it needs the air bled out. Air in the system may affect the coolant level sensor from working correctly. Plus you may have to remove the coolant level sensor and clean it. It's located on the passenger side of the radiator about 3 inches below the radiator filler neck.

If you are using a lot of coolant and it's not due to an external leak, then you may have an issue with the lower intake manifold gaskets or UIM which is a known problem for the Series II 3800.






http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/lizzywiz/gtp.jpg
Thrasher CAI, DHP v1.0 PCM, SLP Headers,
3.25 SC pulley, CAIT GMAF, 2.5 DP/Hi-Flow CAT,
u-bend delete, 160 TS, ZZP Stage 1 72mm TB,
TB spacer, MSD 8.5mm wires, Autolite 103,
Goodyear Gatorback Serp. & SC Belt,
Nitto NT555R Drag Radials
1/4 ET: 13.210 sec. @ 104.490 mph
0 - 60 ft: 1.945 sec.

Question for BNAYLOR?...if lower intake manifold gaskets go bad...How can you tell?...white smoke?..coolant mixes with engine oil?

Question for BNAYLOR?...if lower intake manifold gaskets go bad...How can you tell?...white smoke?..coolant mixes with engine oil?

Primary indicator will be the high coolant consumption with no telltale signs of an external leak. Some of us get lucky and may see oil or coolant system cross contamination but not always. You may possibly get white smoke out the exhaust tailpipe when the engine is cold, however, after the CAT convertor warms up you may see nothing because it operates at 1200 degrees F and whatever hits it will vaporize first. Plus there may be driveability problems, overheating or loss of engine vacuum.

I've got the new intake gaskets in all of my "W" bodies (GTP, Regal GS and Regal LS). No problems and none of them consume any coolant.






http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/lizzywiz/gtp.jpg
Thrasher CAI, DHP v1.0 PCM, SLP Headers,
3.25 SC pulley, CAIT GMAF, 2.5 DP/Hi-Flow CAT,
u-bend delete, 160 TS, ZZP Stage 1 72mm TB,
TB spacer, MSD 8.5mm wires, Autolite 103,
Goodyear Gatorback Serp. & SC Belt,
Nitto NT555R Drag Radials
1/4 ET: 13.210 sec. @ 104.490 mph
0 - 60 ft: 1.945 sec.

Depending on the year of your car, you may also have a cracked upper plenum that is sucking coolant into the engine. The EGR placement caused the plastic upper plenum to melt and fail where the coolant goes through the throttle body. It affects 95-98 3800's mostly, but 99-00 have had issues as well. An aftermarket upper plenum runs in the $120 range, and should come with the upper plenum and throttle body gaskets. They are re-designed to alleviate this factory weak point so that it won't re-occur.

how much would it cost to have fixed approx