91 Pantiac Sunbird Needs Help For Old Age

[D-Debbie]

Hi to everyone,
I am new to this thing called “fix your own car”. I have a 91 Pontiac Sunbird SE eng. 2.0 and 147000 mil on it. I am not sure what is going on whit it. I changed the thermostat, (Know one knows which side is up or down on the thermostat) but my car over heats and the fan does not come on???? I never had a sunbird so; I am not sure what to do! Also the car has a very strong gas smell to it, and the engine light is on all of the time, I had it go of ones when I put in new sensor but soon as I started to drive it came back on. Please write every thing in lames term because I have no Ideal what I am doing and can't take the car to a shop. I also changed the EGR value. Purity much every thing is going out on the car.
PLEASE HELP.

THANKS,
DEBBIE

P.S.
What is this? "Code 15,33 and 45 on a Diagnostic"

[Taasman]

Your car overheating is because the fan is not coming on.The reason its not coming on could be that there is a sensor that detects the temp of the coolant and sends a signal for the fan to come on...this sensor could be bad. But having said that, there could also be many other reasons why it won't come on...could be a wire broken, a fuse, a burnt out fan and a bunch of other could be's...it needs to be diagnosed to find why its not coming on. Fuel smell, could be a leak some where.

[Laser17]

Check to makesure your waterpump is not seized, if the waterpump is seized the coolant will overheat and spill out of the overfill, this happened on my 91 sunbird, although it was the 3.1, i don't know if this makes a difference

[Madcat455]

Originally Posted by Laser17

Check to makesure your waterpump is not seized, if the waterpump is seized the coolant will overheat and spill out of the overfill, this happened on my 91 sunbird, although it was the 3.1, i don't know if this makes a difference

Water pump on a 2.0 is drivin by the timing belt.. if that siezes then the whole thing gets FUBAR'd.

Code 15... Coolant Sensor CIrcuit.... Probably being tripped by its overheating. It says to rectify that first before attempting to find the cause of this code. The T-stat only goes in one way.. that metal bar that sits 3 inches above it is supposed to go on top.

Code 33... Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensor or Circuit.... Check vac. hoses for breaks.. off.. from MAP sensor. CHeck electrical connections to the sensor as well.

Code 45... Rich Exhaust.. explains the gas smell.. Check the Evap cannister for the presance of fuel. Check for fuel in the oil. Check pressure regulator. Check for leaky injectors, sticking EGR valve, faulty Oxygen sensor.

Hard wire your fan relay to see if that'll stop your overheating probs. Make sure you have the Tstat in correctly, and you fill the coolant while the car is running (to remove any air pockets in the system), be vary careful as hot coolant can spray out.. shut off the car if this becomes a problem as you might have other issues.

NOW>..... For the BAD news. The 2.0 is a engine that is VERY SENSITIVE to being overheated... 99% of the time, when one is overheated (to the point of boilover)... you will warp the soft aluminum head, wich will cause coolant leaks, poor performance, dead cylinders (causing gas smell). This is a problem you (in you're self expressed abilities) ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO TACKLE.

So... before you do anything else to that car... I'd go straight to autozone, but a compression tester for $20-40, all you have to do is remove the spark plugs... screw in the tester hose, and crank it over for 5 sec. on each cylinder. The gauge will tell you how much PSI each cylinder is compressing... they should all be close to eachother (within 10-15 psi). If you have one (or two) that are lower then the others... Junk the car. As you'll spend more to fix that then what a different one will cost you.

Also... while at Autozone.. buy a haynes manuel... that's a step by step guide to fixing most things on that car. best $15 you'll ever spend as it'll help you with basic Diagnostics in Lehmans terms.

Good luck... I really hope its not the head.