1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass still boiling over

Tiny
LAMONTST
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 187,000 MILES
I have a 1998 Olds Cutlass 3.1 V6. All of the sudden I was experiencing some over heating on very short trips - 2 to 3 miles. When I checked my water level it was quite low but no indicator lights had come on. I also checked the oil and it was a pint short.

I filled both and within a few days when taking short trips (6 miles) I could smell radiator fluid and once I arrived at my destination I could see water boiling out of my overflow tank. You could also hear a sucking noise like there was water trying to get somewhere. The noise was coming from the hose connected to the block and the top of the radiator.

So the first thing we did was make sure we got all of the air out of the cooling system and that seemed to work for a few days since I had to replace so much water and there was no bleeder valve. That seemed to help a little.

After that we replaced the thermostat. In a few days it went back to boiling over through the bottle. I was replacing about a quart of water a day - making 2 to 3 (~6 mile) trips a day.

One day I took a longer trip but this time it was down the highway (maybe 10 miles). When I the where I was going, water just came running out (not just boiling). I replaced more than 2 gallons it much of it came running out. After some time I added more water and took it home and it made it back with only boiling over a little bit after turning the engine off.

Finally one day when putting more water in the bottle while the engine was running, I started getting splattered with water and realized it was coming from the water pump area. Looking at the pad under the hood I could see this had been happening a lot. We replaced the water pump and for a few days I could only smell the water not see it- no steam or marks on the ground.

Since the pump I have only lost a little water and it is dripping from somewhere just inside the front tire. Today I took a 10 mile trip through city streets and when I got to my destination there was a lot of steam and I lost about a gallon of water boiling out from the same spot. I waited for it to cool. I added almost a gallon and a half and took it back home using the highway. It made it and only dripped about a cup of water when I stopped along the way to check it. When I got home there was no dripping under the car and I just added about a pint. Sometimes I have wondered if I am just not getting the radiator (water bottle) cap on correctly because it will seem to straighten itself out and only need very small amounts. This has been all over a 2 week period and I cannot figure it out. Please help!

I cannot figure out what it is or why it only
Thursday, October 7th, 2010 AT 2:08 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Does the radiator fan work ok? No codes or anything? Maybe combustion gases getting into the coolant? If there is a leak, you need to track it down.
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Thursday, October 7th, 2010 AT 2:23 PM
Tiny
LAMONTST
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Yes the fans work. I am not sure what triggers them but they do come on at some point.

There was a code at some point P440- I believe it was. The light no longer comes on.

I am running out of ideas to find the leak but I have someone who will try to find it over the weekend.
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Thursday, October 7th, 2010 AT 10:59 PM

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