anchor55 Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Greetings everyone...have not been on the site in many, many months...Here is my situation: 94 Seville SLS Northstar I have had my Seville sitting in my backyard for the last 3-4 months disgusted over my cooling system problems. During one of our last frigid days (Buffalo, NY) I was on my way to a meeting and had travelled approx. 5 miles when I noticed steam coming from inside the hood of my car. Ipulled into the closet parking lot and popped the hood...After all the staem had cleared I saw that I was losing coolant from the top of my engine but somewhat obscured from the exact location. I waited over an hr for it to cool down enough to limp home and it has been there pretty much ever since except for starting it and back-forth in driveway..A friend suspected a soft plug? I have no idea..I also was told by the dealer months back that I needed a new headgasket and they would fix for $3500. Turns out the dealer filled ther system while it was hot and led to more overheating..after I posted my problem on the site someone (bruce?) recommended filling it when it cooled down...After doing that and adding some bars-leak it ran pretty darn good for quite awhile until these recent problems..My questions are this: 1-could the softplug? be the cause of my top leak and if so how can I repair it? 2- would Thermalweld fix my headgasket problem enough to allow me to trade in my car? The difference in trade in working -vs- not working is about $2500-3000...I would appreciate any and all help.... Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 How do you know it's not just coming from a hose somewhere? Try and find out exactly where it's coming from before you start freaking out Even if it's a headgasket, it's not that hard to fix, just extremely time consuming :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry94 Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 When I had the rear head off in '98 (car was only three years old), I had to remove the two metal coolant pipes that run parallel with the rear head. While removing these, one broke in two (rust) and the other was severely rusted and would have leaked when reinstalled. Unfortunately I live in salt country, and these pipes are the first to go. These may not be your problem, however if you drive on salty roads, they can't be in very good shape. Barry 2008 STS V82016 Colorado Z711970 Corvette LT-1 Coupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchor55 Posted July 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Thank you for your quick responses. After reading my earlier post I realized I was rambling all over the place. Let me clear some things up. I intially was diagnosed with bad head gasket back in Sept. 03..I did the cold refill / bars leak and it ran pretty well up until late winter when it started to overheat with some regularity. I added Bars leak on several occasions but I was still losing dexron ofetn ( gallon of 50/50 mix every other day) I limited my driving of it until I had a chance to bring to a good mechanic but was forced to drive it that morning when the other problem (top engine leak) hit me..The leak DEFINITELY is not in the radiator (which was replace in Sept. 03, same time Caddy dealer told me I had a head gasket problem) or in the tank, it is located just below the top of the engine (near the Northstar writing) but I cant get to it...I will 100% take your advice this weekend and rent a pressure tester to test the system and post the results...is there any other advice / things to look for? I will be more precise with any other posts...again, thank all you- you guys are invaluable to neophytes like me! ps...nothing would make me happier than to be able to keep this car, I love it!(mechanical pains and all!) Mint inside/outside.. JaY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchor55 Posted July 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 I gave the Seville the pressure test and pumped it up to 16 lbs. after 12 minutes it dropped down very, very slighty to 15-15.5...I am going to refill system and add my pellets..how much does dirty oil contribute to engine overheating? I will post when / if I find where the leak is..thanx all Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 "dirt oil" has no effect on engine temerature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchor55 Posted July 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 **Update** I changed the oil, refilled the coolant, added 5 pellets to the lower rad. hose and revved engine to purge air as per an earlier post.. I ran the car about a mile and everything thing went fine the temp crept up to around 215-217..I parked it and let it idle for 15-20 minutes.. temp would go to 225-226 and fans would kick on and bring down to 214-216 so far so good...I got in car and drove it back home approx mile and temp kept rising swiftly up to "engine coolant is hot" display. I popped hood in garage and saw there was coolant coming from overflow tube of tank but nowhere else..after 5 minutes there was a small trace of steam still coming from overflow tube..there was a weird sound coming from somewhere in the engine sounding as if more steam was being slowly released under heavy pressure but could not pinpoint anything.... (P.S. after filling the cooling system and before my test ride I rechecked the pressure and after 25 minutes the same thing happened as the 1st time..needle went from 16 to 15-15.5) I would appreciate any suggestions, thanx Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Sounds like you need to pressurize the cylinders one by one with shop air and look for air bubbles in the surge tank to check for a bad head gasket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchor55 Posted July 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 ** Update II ** I let car sit for a few hrs. started it up and let it idle. THe temp slowly made it way up to 250 before I shut it down. This time (as it got darker in the garage) I notice faint amount of steam / smoke coming from driver side of engine and something that sounded like a spray can being pressed...this sound lasted approx. 10 minutes and slowly died out..sounded a bit like the last few bits of air leaving a balloon...The sound is coming from somewhere either inside the engine or just below the top surface to the top right of what I believe is the water pump belt..I lift the plastic piece holding the wiring and still cant pinpoint source...I did notice small amount of white smoke coming from each of the exhaust..I am guessing this all head gasket related..if so what danger is involved in trying the Thermalweld I mentioned in original post? As always your help is GREATLY APPRECIATED... I knew I should have stayed in Burgard Vocational school (auto mechanic !) Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted July 26, 2004 Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 Try pressurizing the system for 4 hours or so, then remove the spark plugs. Crank the engine with the plugs out and if coolant comes out the spark plug holes, you have bad head gaskets. Also, pressurize each cylinder with shop air and if there is bubbling in the surge tank, the head gaskets are shot. If the head gaskets are shot, REPLACE THEM. Timesert the head bolt holes as well so you won't have to the job again. Don't add thermalweld in hopes of curing the problem because it will not. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchor55 Posted July 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2004 ***Update III *** took car around corner to pickup ramp car ran to 240...let sit awhile and put pressure tester on it and you could hear the air *but no fluid) escape almost as fast as I could pump it in...I removed the entire air filter unit and notice the sound is coming from somewhere just out of view in front of the actuator...this is driving me nuts because its so close but cannot pinpoint...sounds as if it is coming from a pressurized tubing...any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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