1997 Chevy Monte Carlo Does not warm up at idle

Tiny
SCOTTSPEER
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 79,050 MILES
Recently replaced water pump. Now when car is started in the morning, the heater does not get warm. When you drive it the temp gauge will go up way above normal and then drop back down to below operating temp then slowly go back up to operating temp and the heater will warm up. The gauge will then float up and down and finally stabilize and heater works fine. I have noticed that when I stop and check the overflow bottle, it is full and sometimes overflowing. When the car is cold, the bottle is at the cold level as it should be. Also seems that if you loosen the radiator cap, a lot of air comes out of the system. I have bled it using the bleeders at the thermostat and water pump, have tried to get the air out by leaving the cap off and idling the car, adding coolant when the leve drops. When I do this though, the radiator overflows and then drops and then overflows and drops again, loosing a lot of coolant. There never seems to be just a constant flow through the system. What could be causing this?
Saturday, December 12th, 2009 AT 8:53 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,645 POSTS
You have an air block. In the system, even though you bled it, there is still air. You need to continue trying to bleed the system to get all of the air out.

However, I need to know one thing. When you start the engine cold, if the radiator cap is off, does it blow coolant out?
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Sunday, December 13th, 2009 AT 1:13 AM
Tiny
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In less than a minute the coolant level raises and begins to overflow the radiator at a slow but constant speed. If you let it run a little longer, then it becomes more drastic with a more surging motion rising and then falling with a lot of air bubbles.
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Sunday, December 13th, 2009 AT 9:13 AM
Tiny
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Based on your description, I think you have a bad headgasket. I would recommend having the compression tested. However, when the coolant starts getting blown out when the engine is cold, it is usually due to pressure in the system that shouldn't be there. Have you noticed if the engine oil has any coolant in it?
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Sunday, December 13th, 2009 AT 12:44 PM
Tiny
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No water in the oil, white smoke or even miss in the engine. But I will have the compression checked as you suggested.
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Sunday, December 13th, 2009 AT 2:26 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,645 POSTS
Let me know what you find and thanks for using 2carpros. Com

Joe
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 AT 9:04 PM

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