Multiple problems after overheating

Tiny
ANTHONY JIM
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA
  • 3.8L
  • 210,000 MILES
On my car listed above (little over 60,000 miles on the engine from it being replaced a while back odometer reads little over 210,000 miles) it had over heated on Halloween. Checked it out still was acting up. The temperature gauge stayed on as it was hot when left to sit over night and it being a cold night I decided to change the thermostat and the sensor. Got those done but now the fans stays on the radiator fans even after I remove the key and try and lock it up have to wait for bout 3 to 5 minutes until they shut off and I am able to lock it up. Also it has a hesitation when in gear drive or reverse and at idle it wants to not stay running when you first start it will idle good then sputter then will shut off. Then turn it over again same thing unless I give it a rev and then it will stay running. Sounds like it's either really sucking in air or blowing it out because it is a lot louder then before it over heated. So if I take it for a short ride it will almost have the pedal to the floor for it to get going then it will shift and then struggle but slowly pick up speed. I have changed the thermostat and the sensor and also the EVAP and fuel pressure regulator tube harness. When removing the wire harnesses for the sensors I snapped the F.P.R. Tube I replaced those, but still having the other problems. Really needing help with this. It's my family's daily and my little blazer is not cutting it.
Monday, November 4th, 2019 AT 5:44 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

Well since your vehicle overheated the best place to start would be to do a compression test to see if the internals of your vehicle's engine is still healthy. Usually when a vehicle overheats the aluminum heads have a lower melting point than the iron engine block and they tend to warp. This warpage then will usually cause the head gasket to fail, letting compression out of the engine and causing a variety of driveability concerns. Here is a link below on how to do a compression test:

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. We can go from there.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPro
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Monday, November 4th, 2019 AT 9:49 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,452 POSTS
From your description it sounds like you may have done some internal damage and possibly blown a head gasket. If the miles are accurate I don't think I would even bother repairing it, I would find a low mileage engine and install that. Would likely be less money overall than pulling that engine apart and having the cylinder heads done and installing all new gaskets. The 3.8 doesn't like getting hot, they are a good engine but that is one weak spot. To see what you have you might want to run a compression test and possibly a combustion gas test as well.
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test
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Monday, November 4th, 2019 AT 9:53 PM

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