I have a 1995 Grand AM with a Quad 4 that I bought about 8 months ago. It has 136,000 miles on it and ran perfectly up until about 2 weeks ago.
When I would first start it up in the morning it would miss out for about 5 minutes or so until the engine warmed up then it would run fine.
I thought maybe it needed a tune up and was planning to do one in January when money wouldn't be so tight.
Anyways I was driving it yesterday to a town about 20 miles away and noticed the temp gauge was going up. I stopped on the side of the road and let it cool down and checked the coolant level and it was full.
I started it back up and drove about 2 miles and it got hot again so I stopped and let it cool off. I repeated this until I got to the town I was going to and stopped in at a service station.
They looked at it and said it possibly was the thermostat, but they were to busy to look at it any further.
Next I took it down the street to a GM dealership and they said that it could be an air pocket so they said they would pressurize it and check it out.
After the guy checked it out he said that when he put pressure to the system it caused the engine to miss and most likely I had a bad head gasket and or head. He said they would be happy to replace the head gasket for $1500.. OUCH! if it was the head that was bad it would be around $2000 plus parts. It about made me sick to hear all that especially this being a tight on money month with xmas and all.
After the GM guy done whatever he did to it the low coolant light came on even though the coolant level was full.
I then drove back the 20 miles or so to my home stopping every couple miles or so to let it cool off.
Before I bought the car I was told by the owner that he had recently replaced the water pump, heater core, and thermostat.
Is it likely that it is a head gasket or cracked head?
Even though it would over heat it never puked coolant.
I have not found any signs of coolant in the oil nor any oil in the coolant.
Should I try changing the thermostat first? If so on a 1995 is the thermostat on the back of the engine under the exhaust manifold?
Is the thermostat hard to replace as far as being able to get to the bolts? ( I replaced one on a ford tempo and it was a nightmare).
Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas would be a big help.
thanks