mhopkins23 Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 I am very new to this forum as I had just purchased a 2003 deville with the northstar engine, I have only had it about a week and it has been overheating so I am unable to drive it which really sucks!!! What's goin on is that the "dealer" claimed it was overheating before so he claims that he changed the thermostat and water pump, he said that it worked ok for him...I have had overheating issues since day one, I would start it cold, drive about 2 miles and it would start overheating...I flushed the system, did a combustion/head test using a kit on the cooling tank, checked fluid level, made sure cap was holding pressure, I see no visible leaks and I haven't had to add any coolant...I wound up clearing out the purge line/bolt with a hole in it and it actually ran decent, I drove it today approx. 7miles then it started overheating again, checked the hole again to see if it might have gotten clogged again but coolant flowed steady when I took that line off, the car doesn't overheat as fast as it did before but I'm fearful of warping a head if I try n mess with it/drive it at all...one thing I did notice is that when it started overheating I turned on heat and at first would blow out hot air, then it would change to cool for some reason? Plz plz help!!!I am supposed to drive out 85m to see my son tomorrow and I'm trying everything I can!! (Its been over a year since I saw him)....by the way I've got like $60 to work with at the moment :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Hope this helps. Did you drive the car before you did the combustion test or did you do it right after the flush? If you didnt drive it enough it could pass the test. Is there a proper 50/50 mix of Dexcool coolant in the system. Have you inspected the water pump, belt, and tensioner. (note driven by cam on driver side of engine) Best of luck to you and Welcome to Caddyinfo GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhopkins23 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Well I actually just got it to operating temp and then performed the "combustion" test, gave it some pedal etc..and that was before the flush...the coolant mix is definetly not at 50/50, I thought of that too, wasn't sure if it would make that much of a difference though, I was thinking sbout another drain and fill...the water pump and accessories seem fine, I haven't visually checked the inards of the pump though, belt is ok, tension, seems good too, unsure what the "speed" it should be running at though....it seems to me for some reason that it might be a bad/clogged radiator, I'm not getting hot air when fans kick on to cool, its more room temp feel, like coolant isn't circulating through radiator therefore no hot air in engine bay from fans...am I correct in this theory? Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Definately get it to 50/50 mixture. After you do that then drive it if possible and try the combustion test again, If the water pump spins easy its good GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhopkins23 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 I went ahead and tried to let coolant flow (while running) out of the bolt with a hole in it, it actually came out really foamy...is that air in the line orjust from excess water? I let it flow until it was the color of coolant, refilled tank andit seems to be running ok? Lol...thanks for all your help any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhopkins23 Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Ran ok for ten min driving....I hit the highway and its back to overheating now!!! Omg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhopkins23 Posted June 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 Well I put the new radiator in and its still having problems overheating, Ive got it back to the 50/50 mix on coolant, continues to overheat within a half hour of driving! I'm soooo lost!!! Somebody out there help!!!! I really don't wanna take it to a shop for them to tell me that they have no idea, charge me 200, and I'm back at the start... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Ok a few things. Enlighten us on overheating Does it purge coolant? how hot does it get? does idling it make it overheat as fast as driving it? when you replaced the radiator how were the side tanks? GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted June 9, 2013 Report Share Posted June 9, 2013 You can run the on-board diagnostics, write them down, and post them here. If there is anything going on like a problem with the cooling fans, that will tell the tale. See the link in my signature block. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Replacing the water pump and radiator was a waste of money. The only time the water pump will fail is when it begins to leak coolant out of the weep hole. Unless the radiator was plugged up, that wouldn't have an effect on the overheating either. Is the purge line still flowing coolant? In order to obtain an accurate test of the coolant, you can't add coolant prior to the test. You need to have some miles on the coolant for an accurate test. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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