3400 burping up coolant after having LIM done

well i went to drive my alero today and it was running pretty good for about 15 min. then the temperature keep rising up to the red line. i had to shut the car off 10 times to make a 45 min ride each way. the heat won't work at all just blows out cold air.

You need to bleed your cooling system with your heater on and the fan on low.
If you already did this try it again, cause it sounds like you still have air trapped.

One easy way to do this, is to get a clear hose that will fit over the larger of the bleeder valves.
Unscrew/remove the center piece clamp the hose to the other fitting then put the other end in your resivoir tank and let the engine run untill thiers no bubbles in the clear line.

You need to bleed your cooling system with your heater on and the fan on low.
If you already did this try it again, cause it sounds like you still have air trapped.

One easy way to do this, is to get a clear hose that will fit over the larger of the bleeder valves.
Unscrew/remove the center piece clamp the hose to the other fitting then put the other end in your resivoir tank and let the engine run untill thiers no bubbles in the clear line.

but would that really cause the normal temp (from the middle) to rise up to the red warning temp level? it is definitely not a closed thermostat.

Yes, if you have air in your coolant it will get trapped by temp sensor, so sensor reads hot air.

However if your burping coolant out your overflow you could have a blown head gasket. Had the same problem last year. Coolant would be pressurized from lead and would eventually blow rv on overflow...then air in system would send pressure gauge high. I would let it sit for 5 minutes or so and air would eventually get pushed out to overflow tank.

I did compression test etc..but no lack of compression, but indeed there was a crack in the gasket I could see once I changed it.

BTW, I had my head gasket issue happen about 6 weeks after I had my LIM gasket changed at the shop. Changed head gasket myself and its been fine for the last year.

but would that really cause the normal temp (from the middle) to rise up to the red warning temp level? it is definitely not a closed thermostat.

Yes air trapped in your cooling system will cause temp spikes up and down. Same with your heater being hot one minute then cold the next.
And air in the system can over flo the Res. tank, can even empty it out in no time, then suck more air in as the engine cools.

Do you hear any gurgling in the dash when you shut your car off ?

After burping your system good, then you would know whether it was a head gasket as db21 suggested.
He is also right about a compression test not always showing a blown head gasket(HG).
Though, if it does have a bad HG, it would be leaking something somewhere it's not supposed to be, like coolant in oil, oil in the coolant , or coolant into the exhaust.

btw here's a link for Bleeding Your Cooling System (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=718130)

Good Luck

actually since you mention it yea i do hear some gurgling and some other loud 'banging' sound for the front of the engine near the bottom maybe not sure though exact location.

Gurgling is most likly air trapped, the noise you hear up front... :dunno: about that.

How long did you drive the car with a bad LIM ?

Gurgling is most likly air trapped, the noise you hear up front... :dunno: about that.

How long did you drive the car with a bad LIM ?

year atleast......nothing looked really crazy when i was looking at the valves. cam and valves looked like brand new. it has ~72k miles on it.

well it looks like the heater core was blocked up because the temperature wasnt spiking up as quick as it was before. i just bypassed the heater core for the time. will update when drive it tomorrow.

well i went to autozone yesterday and just bought a U shaped heater hose so i could just bypass the heater core. it solved the problem. i got it up and running and squeezed both radiators to make sure that wasnt any more air bubbles.

well i think i found the source of the strange noise......it is by the radiator :banghead:

ran obd-2 scanner tests on it to monitor temp iat was 54 and coolant wanted to stay at and around 225 and 223. im kinda hoping the head gaskets arent blown.......

It's still running way to hot!

Did you do a compression test on the cylinders ??

Oh yeah, you did by pass the heater core didnt you ... ?
That might just be why its overheating still.

It's still running way to hot!

Did you do a compression test on the cylinders ??

Oh yeah, you did by pass the heater core didnt you ... ?
That might just be why its overheating still.

well before the bypass hose it would try to go into the danger 280+ temperatures. this is the lowest is has been for awhile. ill try to run a compression test on it.

I'd bet your head gasket(s) are bad, it should not be running that hot. :grinno:

I did the same thing on my SE.
The LIM was bad, I changed it, and it still ran realy hot .
Thought the LIM gaskets were the trouble, ended up replacing the LIM 3x before I changed the head gaskets. That was a long weekend! :banghead:

Good Luck!

well problem one i have to handle is to get the cooling fans to work right again. then we'll see about doing the head gaskets.