intrigue overheating!

[LittleHoov]

If the system is pressurizing properly running water shouldnt matter. Pressurizing the system increases the boiling point of water, I dont know the math on it. But I know it does.

Your Intrigue should be running below 212 anyway unless youre sitting still perhaps. Even then with the AC on your fans should already be running.

Have you bled the coolant system properly? Theres another thread going on right now discussing bleeding procedures. You might give that a try.

My opnion is that its not the water, people used to use straight water on iron engines with no troubles back in the day. I dont see why it would cause you problems on your aluminum engine.

Using online sources you can replace your entire cooling system for Id say less than 300 dollars. Thats a lot of money for me personally, but if the rest of my car was in good working order Id go for it. Its hard to buy a car in the same league as my Intrigue for 300 dollars.

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

If the system is pressurizing properly running water shouldnt matter. Pressurizing the system increases the boiling point of water, I dont know the math on it. But I know it does.

Yes, this is true.

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

Your Intrigue should be running below 212 anyway unless youre sitting still perhaps. Even then with the AC on your fans should already be running.

The COOLANT temp still gets above 212*F even with a 50/50 mix of coolant/water and a properly functioning cooling system under normal operating conditions.

However, temperature of the ENGINE itself where the coolant passages run will exceed the boiling point of the water. Even at 15 PSI water boils at about 250*F. The water will vaporize upon contact, thus causing your current overheating problems to snowball since the steam does not have heat transfer properties of water in liquid form. Since your cap vents at 15 PSI, in theory the majority of the water could boil out of your cooling system if the engine was ran long enough because when water boils to steam it expands. Your water pump will only help the steam find it's exit through the cap

[harmankardon35]

I say, get some regular green antifreeze and fill your car with it... just to see if the car overheats after a few weeks...this way you can easily determine if the straight water in the system is causing the issue.if it does not overheat, then flush the green stuff and get some prestone universal (yellow) coolant in there to avoid future damage... If it still overheats, move to water pump and inspect/replace it.

a few more tips

Make sure you do not have an air lock in your cooling system, that can easily cause an overheating issue. Im not sure about the 3.5l but the 3.8l has a few air purge valves you are supposed to open after a radiator flush.

make sure your fans are operational, i had one dead fan in my 98' and if i sat for more than a few minutes on a hot day the temp would rise above the 3/4 mark towards the red until i got moving again on the road...

[intriguehatesme]

thats the next thing i was gopnna ask, where are the air purge valves on the 3.5?

i hate this car now, i drained all the water out of the can and ran a 50/50 dexcool and water mix and the car still overheated. took the water pump off and there was nothing wrong with it, 3 mechanics told me to put it back on. im starting to think it needs a new motor or the radiator.

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by intriguehatesme

thats the next thing i was gopnna ask, where are the air purge valves on the 3.5?

i hate this car now, i drained all the water out of the can and ran a 50/50 dexcool and water mix and the car still overheated. took the water pump off and there was nothing wrong with it, 3 mechanics told me to put it back on. im starting to think it needs a new motor or the radiator.

Did you ever try replacing the thermostat? There was a TSB on the older 3.5L Intrigues that had the similar symptoms as you.

In the TSB it says the customer observes overheating when the temp is below 0*C (32*F) with the heater and fan on the highest setting when idling or driving slowly in traffic.

It says to replace the thermostat with a revised one that helps coolnt flow better. By now, all of the aftermarket thermpstats should have this revised design.

Check the radiator fan motors to make sure they are working. Just use some extra wire to temporarily hook them directly to the battery to see if they work.

Did you ever check and/or replace your coolant lid?

[intriguehatesme]

i removed the thermostat, the fans are working fine, and i replaced the water pump yesterday.

i did notice after i changed the water pump and sdtarted the car it was smoking, so i think its the heads or head gasket now SMH! i dont get it tho i dont have any leaks and theres no water in the oil?!?

[dtownfb]

I would change the thermostat next..... Then the radiator if the thermostat does not do the trick.

[intriguehatesme]

so you think its the thermostat or radiator inbstead of the heads or head gaskets?

[dtownfb]

The first thing I would have done is replace the thermostat and flush the system to make sure there was no blockage. Esp. at your mileage and age and this is the most common cause for overheating in the Intrigue. the thermostat should be a piece of cake for you after all of this.

The head gasket COULD be the problem but you never mentioned about adding coolant or excessive white smoke. To me, the head gasket is the last (and most expensive) option.

I believe in doing the cheapest and easiest repairs first. Not much money invested and there is no harm replacing the thermostat esp. at your mileage. BTW, I would recommend switching to the Prestone Universal Extended Life.

I just crossed 178k miles on my Intrigue. Replaced the thermostat in the late fall. I'm at the point of replacing this car very soon. Great car for me but it's getting too frustrating and I (read: my wife) refuse to put any more money into the car outside of regular maintenance. With my daily commute of 65 miles RT, the comfort level in the car is deteriorating rapidly. i still get 24-25 mpg though.

[intriguehatesme]

ive flushed the system plenty of times. can these cars be ran without thermostats in them?

i havent had coolant in the car for a while now except for a few days ago and it still overheated but didnt smoke. the only time it smokes is on start up and its a fine mist and the time i replaced the water pump it was smoking but stopped so im lost.

im just trying to get the car fixed to last until i can get another car.

[dtownfb]

I would change the thermostat next. Like I mentioned, no harm in changing it since at your vehicle age and mileage, it could go at any time. And it does not cost much. I paid $35 for mine and installed it myself.

[intriguehatesme]

i understand your saying change it but there isnt a thermostat in the car now, i took it out! are you saying intrigues cant be ran without thermostats in them?!?

[LittleHoov]

I think most of us are just curious how you removed the actual thermostat on the 3.5, its built into the water outlet, and if it could be easily removed I would think they would sell replacements in that manner, instead of selling an entire new water outlet.

So, I guess if you found a way to get that bugger out of there, then in theory it should be fine. But its not really designed to be removed.

[dtownfb]

I'm not sure if the Intrigue can function normally without the thermostat attached. I'm not a mechanic just someone who likes cars and tries to learn as much as i can about my own cars. My guess after seeing the design of this thermostat is that there is no way for the coolant to flow with the thermostat off since all flow goes through the attached tubes. I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time and definitely won't be the last.

[intriguehatesme]

when you remove the housing if you twist the thermostat it comes right out of the housing. when i went to autozone they showed me just a thermostat not a whole water inlet housing with the thermostat attatched