rollingthunder1994 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Last Monday my 94-STS started overheating without warning. Hoses were hot, but no heat just cold air blowing. I changed the thermostat, refilled the overflow tank. Still same problem. I took it to PEP Boys, which is two blocks away, only because i thought it need to be flushed. Pep Boys refused to flush the system, because they said Anti-Freeze was leaking through the overflow tube. I only took it to Pep-Boys because i figured a bunch of monkeys can do a simple radiator flush. Any way since they would not do it. I started driving the car around the neighborhood and the problem seemed to have fixed itself. Heat started working temperature stayed between 199-208 degrees. Today started driving the car started to over heat again temp went up to 250-degrees after i parked the car, i heard the antifreeze boiling and bubbling then it started pouring out of the overflow tube. Suggestions please!!!! New Thermostat, Cap, new radiator in April, electric fans working. Do you all think i should put in a new heater core? local shop want $40.00 for new one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 How is the coolant concentration? It should be 50/50...buy a guage to check it, they are cheap. Make sure you purchased the correct cap and make sure its not defective or clogged open. It sounds like your coolant was low when you were not getting heat, a plugged heater core would not cause the problem you are experiencing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 I agree with Scotty, a bad heater core will not cause an over heat situation. Check the water pump drive belt tensioner. Make sure it is not rusted at the pivot and is providing enough tension to keep the belt from slipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Hey Guys, Thanks for you responses. I looked under my hood this evening and noticed the hose that comes from the tank that connects to a metal line that i believe goes to the water pump housing is shaped like a "S" instead of being straight. Could this possibly cause the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Hello All, Well over the weekend i replaced the heater core anyway. The only reason i did it was because i don't know if the system has ever been flushed. My 94 STS has 112,640.00 miles on it. The only Maintenance history i know about is engine and electrical only. The person i bought the car from lives in Florida now, and i have no way to contact her. Anyway after changing the heater core, still no heat. Took the day off today, changed the water pump tensioner pulley and belt. Now i have heat. Car does not overheat any more, but temp still rises high. I drove it around the city and it climbed to 240-degrees then started dropping down to 212-degrees. It kept going like this until i decided to come home. could there be air in the system? if so how do i bleed it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadiKing Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 ... could there be air in the system? if so how do i bleed it out? rollingthunder1994, Yes, I just did some coolant work on my '99 STS and even though I reved it up in the driveway, it got pretty hot before I pulled over and burped the coolant. Then the temp went back to normal.. Search the archives about getting air out of the system, I know it has been mentioned. I think you have to rev it up pretty high...3 - 4,k... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 It may stabilize after you drive it a few times, I find that when I do work on my cooling system it take a couple of hot/cold cycles for the cooling system to stablize and pull in required coolant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Thank's All of you!!!! This site is incredible!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 So the moral of the story is that your water pump belt was slipping? I find it interesting that your heat would be negatively impacted by the slipping belt.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 I said the same thing about the belt. This is my first NorthStar. I know the motor is complex but, darn. I did everything to it thinking it was everything else but the belt tensioner. Maybe it was not giving heat because the pump is located on the opposite side of the engine instead of the conventional way? I don't know just guessing. That's why i talk to you guy's with more experience on this. I'm going to search the archives. I think i read something way back, stating the disadvantage of having the water pump on the opposite side of the engine. I will check and let you all know. Thanks Again everyone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2005 Again thanks everyone. BBobynski i will either remove the cap or the 3/8 hose in the morning and check to make sure the purge line is free before i go to work. I will let you all know the outcome. Thanks again!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Well Guys it's me again. This car is driving me a little crazy. On my last post i said i would write back to let you all know the outcome. Well i gave it a couple of day's to how it would go. All was fine until i got off the highway. About 5-minutes after getting off temp started rising from 194-degrees to 245-degrees. It was not a fast rise, it took about 8-10 minutes. Went up to 245 then dropped to 212-degrees where it stayed for a few. Two blocks before my house, it went up to 245. After i parked, it started pushing coolant out of the overflow tube. Not alot but enough. The heat works fine. So good it will burn you out. I don't see any coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. I don't want to take it to the dealer because i know he will have my pants around my ankle's Any othe suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted February 18, 2005 Report Share Posted February 18, 2005 Well Guys it's me again. This car is driving me a little crazy. On my last post i said i would write back to let you all know the outcome. Well i gave it a couple of day's to how it would go. All was fine until i got off the highway. About 5-minutes after getting off temp started rising from 194-degrees to 245-degrees. It was not a fast rise, it took about 8-10 minutes. Went up to 245 then dropped to 212-degrees where it stayed for a few. Two blocks before my house, it went up to 245. After i parked, it started pushing coolant out of the overflow tube. Not alot but enough. The heat works fine. So good it will burn you out. I don't see any coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. I don't want to take it to the dealer because i know he will have my pants around my ankle's Any othe suggestions? 1. Are you sure the thermostat works properly? Is the upper radiator hose tight and hot WHEN the temp climbs to 245? 2. Do your cooling fans (two of them) start when he temp gets some 225? 3. Are you sure your mix is 50/50? Only refractometer can give you reliable data. 50/50 mix should not boil at 245 unless the pressure controlled by the radiator cap is not correct (lower than it is supposed to). Do not get frustrated, we saw much more complex cases here! The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriskoc1 Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 A similar problem happened to me in my 95 Ford Contour. It overheated and produced no hot air and the dealership insisited I needed a new headgasket and the waterpump was fine, even though it did not fail a leak down test. I drained the coolant and opened the water pump. The impeller inside it broke off since it was made of plastic. I bought a newer version of the water pump with a metal impeller from a junk yard and changed the impeller over since nothing else was damaged. It did not overheat after that, and hot air returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 The coolant fans do come on around 223-degrees the Thermostat i brought from Auto Zone last week. One thing i'm guilty of after reading other post. I have brought the Bars leak from auto zone. The one in the bottle with liquid in it and pellets. I did put it in the overflow tank this was about a month ago. I just took off the tank and saw the goo caked up in the bottom of the tank. Do you think the thin line running under the intake is clogged. If so how do i unclog it. If it was clogged i would think that i would not get heat at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 The coolant fans do come on around 223-degrees the Thermostat i brought from Auto Zone last week. One thing i'm guilty of after reading other post. I have brought the Bars leak from auto zone. The one in the bottle with liquid in it and pellets. I did put it in the overflow tank this was about a month ago. I just took off the tank and saw the goo caked up in the bottom of the tank. Do you think the thin line running under the intake is clogged. If so how do i unclog it. If it was clogged i would think that i would not get heat at all. 1. A new thermostat does not necessarily mean good one, check the hose. 2. If it is clogged you can try to unclog it with a wire I guess. 3. And looks like you are not sure of 50/50 mix, right? The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Your right about the thermostat. When i had my BMW i had to go through 3- before i got the right one. The antifreeze is the Prestone 50/50 already mixed I will take a wire and try to clean the tube tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 One more thing - the radiator cap. Bbobynski (our resident expert) suggested using only OEM cap from a dealer to have proper pressure. It is not an expensive part to try even if you think your cap is fine. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Do you think if i take the water pump housing off there might be blockage or goo in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 One more thing if i add two tubes of bars leak powder in the lower radiator hose. Will it turn to goo in the water pump housing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 One more thing if i add two tubes of bars leak powder in the lower radiator hose. Will it turn to goo in the water pump housing? NO The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yhman Posted February 20, 2005 Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 I just want to add my experience with overheat in 1998 north star engine. Check all the small bore 3/8" hoses especially the ones that is connected to upper side of the water surge tank. I had very similar problem, I checked and replaced the thermostat, the small bore hoses and inspected every thing, and the car still over heats. then I checked the small bore hoses and noticed that one of them is relativily cold. I checked it out, it was connected to the engine via a 3/8" nipple, this nipple had 3 mm hole which was plugged. Probably this nipple was the vent nipple from engine to surge tank, because it was plugged the air in the engine was not able to escape to the surge tank and replaced with coolant, and eventually there was not suffcient coolant circulating in the engine. I used a drill bit and push it through to clean that nipple. Since then I did not have an over heat problem. Inspect this nipple to find if it is plugged or not. I had a 1993 STS and the engine is relatively similar. Good luck to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollingthunder1994 Posted February 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Hello All, I'm almost there. I took out the thermostat from Auto Zone, I put in an OEM stat from Caddy. I have heat, engine doen not over heat, but it does get alittle warm. Once it get's to 190-degrees. It takes a while to get hotter, It goes up to around 207-degrees then 212-degrees that city driving. On the highway it stays between 199-203-degrees. One thing i did notice though when it got to 212-the temperature started to jump up and down it would go to 216, 217, back down to 212, 210, 208, back up to 216 in a flash. It did not go any higher than 216 city driving. It only stayed at the level for a little while then dropped back down. Do you think there is still a air pocket in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Hello All, I'm almost there. I took out the thermostat from Auto Zone, I put in an OEM stat from Caddy. I have heat, engine doen not over heat, but it does get alittle warm. Once it get's to 190-degrees. It takes a while to get hotter, It goes up to around 207-degrees then 212-degrees that city driving. On the highway it stays between 199-203-degrees. One thing i did notice though when it got to 212-the temperature started to jump up and down it would go to 216, 217, back down to 212, 210, 208, back up to 216 in a flash. It did not go any higher than 216 city driving. It only stayed at the level for a little while then dropped back down. Do you think there is still a air pocket in there? These fluctuation are normal for city driving since the pattern do change slitely (say, you stop by one light longer than by another and the temp. climbes immediately). Just make sure the upper radiator hose is hote and tight when the temp is 210, just stop the car, open the hood, and touch it. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted February 21, 2005 Report Share Posted February 21, 2005 Hello All, I'm almost there. I took out the thermostat from Auto Zone, I put in an OEM stat from Caddy. I have heat, engine doen not over heat, but it does get alittle warm. Once it get's to 190-degrees. It takes a while to get hotter, It goes up to around 207-degrees then 212-degrees that city driving. On the highway it stays between 199-203-degrees. One thing i did notice though when it got to 212-the temperature started to jump up and down it would go to 216, 217, back down to 212, 210, 208, back up to 216 in a flash. It did not go any higher than 216 city driving. It only stayed at the level for a little while then dropped back down. Do you think there is still a air pocket in there? Your temps now look good! As a matter of fact they look great! You have made me put changing my stat with an OEM stat on the list of things to do, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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