Car overheating

SASHAROLL22

MEMBER
2007 PONTIAC TORRENT
260,000 MILES

A little back story: I got into an accident about a year ago that busted up my front end. I replaced the condenser, radiator and hose, fans, transmission line and A/C connections. Car overheated for a second but I got the air out of the system and it drove fine for a month or so. All of a sudden the car started running hot. I changed the thermostat twice, the temperature sensor and the water pump and the car kept running hot within minutes of starting it. I noticed that antifreeze was literally boiling out of the reservoir. My heat stopped working and I could smell antifreeze when I turned it on. Those are usually telltale signs of a bad heater core. Upon seeing how expensive and demanding the work is on this car I decided to try flushing it first encase I could remove a clog. The antifreeze came out bright green and clean. Could it still be the heater core or what could it be?

3 Replies

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

Are you loosing any coolant? The way that I fill my cooling system is to undo the top radiator hose at the neck coming from the engine block. I lift it up to make sure that it the highest point in the cooling system. I then fill with antifreeze until it starts to come out of the neck that I disconnected the hose from. I reattach the hose. I know for certain that I have no air pockets in my cooling system. I have included a couple of links for you down below.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-water-pump
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolant-leak-symptoms
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

Please go through these guides and get back to us with what you find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Wednesday, March 27th, 2019 AT 6:05 PM

SASHAROLL22

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Coolant is only leaking from the overflow on the reservoir when it overheats. I guess a pressure test would be the next option. Should I try to remove all air pockets before I do a pressure test? Also, if it is a head gasket, where would I see the coolant leaking from?

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Wednesday, March 27th, 2019 AT 6:21 PM

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello again,

So you are not using coolant. Hmm. A simple way to check to see if you have a blown head gasket is to pull your engine oil dipstick. If the oil looks like oil or is black you are probably okay. If the oil looks like coffee with cream and sugar in it you have a blown head gasket. You've put in a new thermostat, new water pump, new radiator, and you are still overheating. How about the serpentine belt, does it have good tension? Maybe it is slipping and not turning the water pump effectively. I have included a couple of links for you down below on testing for a blown head gasket.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Please go through these guides and get back to us with what you find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Thursday, March 28th, 2019 AT 1:17 AM