Lawrence Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Again I am not familiar with this car, but if the heater hoses are cold disconnect the heater core input hose and verify/find out why no water is flowing through it. Also visually trace the heater hoses looking for any kind of a switch or valve in the hose. Some cars have temperature control valves in the hose to limit water flow until the engine temp is up. Could be a defective one, if there. Sorry, if I have repeated someone. I don't have time to read the whole post now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 A bad head gasket will very often result in water in your crankcase. Look at the oil and note its consistency. It will be easy to determine if their is water in it by draining a little and inspecting it. --Flyer '99 'Vert 'Vette 45k '97 SLS 55k Deceased: <'68 Mustang 200+k>, <'86 GMC S-10 180+k>, <'86 VW GTI 180+k>, <'86 Seville 195+k>, <'93 Seville 175+k> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Second is an obstruction of the heater core. Below is a link to someones post on this. http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/showt...ght=heater+core Thanks for this link! That tip about breaking the inlet and outlet off instead of messing with the clamps probably saved me two hours with pliers. I have smelled a little coolant before and the carpet was wet once so that %$!@# is coming out this weekend. Then I'll work on the overheat problem. It sounds like the core won't be too bad. I'll let you guys know what I find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 One thing you mentioned that doesn't sound right is that the radiator was about 1" down when cold. It should be full to the rim. Check the cap to be sure is is holding the proper amount of pressure (15# I think). Also be sure there is a hose on the overflow tank cap that extends down below the coolant level. Otherwise when the engine cools the system will suck air rather than coolant back into the radiator which could explain why the level goes down when you rev the engine (displacing trapped air). This whole thing could be nothing more than a bad radiator cap or a missing hose on the overflow tank cap. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulque Posted March 6, 2004 Report Share Posted March 6, 2004 Could the radiator be plugged or restricted?Maybe your problem is there. Disconnect both radiator hoses and run a water hose to top opening , and see how much flows out.This may help eliminate the radiator as resticted. Also a cooling system pressure pump will reveal any leaks in the system. The cooling system should be able to maintain pressure, and this test will pinpoint a leak in the system if present(at the head gasket?). Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2004 Could the radiator be plugged or restricted? I suppose that's a possibility too, but that wouldn't explain why the top hose is easy to squeeze sometimes and hard to squeeze at others when hot. It's like there is a restriction back in the block somewhere. That's why I replaced the water pump. I though maybe the flow was so poor that it was overheating and not pushing any hot coolant through the heater core, but that didn't pan out either. I will try pressurizing the system and see if it holds. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Rose Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Check the thermostat. Just because its new, doesnt mean its good! When a thermostat sticks closed, your engine will overheat, but you will get cold air out of the heater because the coolant isnt circulating thru it. Another indicator of this is that the coolant lines to the heater core are cool. A soft, collapsed radiator hose could also cause this, and considering yours are probably 12 years old, would be worth a look too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 OK guys, here's the post you've been waiting for. I tore into the car this morning. The first thing I did was to check the coolant with my tester. It was off the scale above 50/50! I'm guessing the kid at the garage refilled the system with 100% antifreeze, not 50/50 The next thing I did was to check on that big drop in fluid level in the radiator. I pulled the thermostat out and put the housing back on. When I started the car, all this air came out and the level in the radiator dropped 3-4" and stayed there. I'm guessing the block was air locked. I started adding straight water and checking the coolant for 50/50. I had to drain and add, drain and add, etc... for a while until I could get a solid 50/50. I think I added about 2-3 gallons of water. Then, I put the thermo back in and took it for a test drive. I drove the #$%@ out of it in the hills and interstate and could not get it to overheat . I was driving with the heat off but the temp set to 90 and I could feel heat coming out of the duct a little so I turned it to auto and heat was blasting out. It got so hot that I was driving with the windows down on the interstate. I ran it like that all the way up this big hill and to the driveway. When I pulled into the drive, the heat was gone and it was blowing ICE cold. I popped the hood and felt the AC lines and they were ICE cold too with condensate on them. Hmmmm, that explains a lot. That's why sometime the heat was good and sometime it just froze me. The frickin' AC was coming on! Any idea where to start with that? The electronic climate control scares the poop out of me . Anyways, I'm making progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franey Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 SOUNDS LIKE YOUR COMFORTRONE UNIT IS OUTOF ADJUSTMENT, OR IS BROKE, I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY HOME REPAIR THAT CAN BE DONE TO THIS UNIT , SINCE IT HAS TO BE PLUGGED INTO ONE OF THOSE NIFTY DEALER ITEM ONLY COMPUTERS TO DO THE PROPER DIAGNOSTICS. YOU MIGHT CONSIDER ONE OUT OF A WRECKING YARD. HERE AGAIN , A LITTLE IFFY , BUT WHEN YOU PRICE A NEW ONE, MIGHT BE WORTH A TRY. GOOD LUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Sounds like you got the overheat problem licked. 100% antifreeze would explain the air in the system caused by boiling the coolant. I would take it back and make a point of letting them know what you found incase there are any headgasket problems in the future caused by their mistake. Re: climate control, if you had the system set for "auto/90deg" it will switch to a/c when it exceeds 90 cabin temp. Was that a possibility? Also a/c will run in "auto" anytime the ambient air temp is above 32 deg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinW Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Re: climate control, if you had the system set or "auto/90deg" it will switch to a/c when it exceeds 90 cabin temp. On many Climate Control systems, 60 F and 90 F will force the system to maximum cold and maximum heat respectively, regardless of the interior temperature. ___________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Now one thing you wern't real clear on, was the thermostat in or out when the heater started blowing cold air? Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Sorry, I see in your post that you put the stat back in. Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Re: climate control, if you had the system set or "auto/90deg" it will switch to a/c when it exceeds 90 cabin temp. On many Climate Control systems, 60 F and 90 F will force the system to maximum cold and maximum heat respectively, regardless of the interior temperature. Hmm, you might have a point there. I'd have to read the service manual to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Anyway, It sounds like you're making some progress alright. The air temp from the climate control should modulate, go to slightly cooler and cooler air, not shut off the heat entirely and blast out cold air. Right now I'm leanin toward the climate control system. Drive it a few days normally, just to see if the overheat problem returns and to ensure that all air has been removed from the system. There could have been another slug of air trapped somewhere that worked its way to the heater core. Be sure to check those heater hoses when the air blows cold, if they are not hot, either they are blocked or the automatic valve is shutting off water flow. Be sure to double check the previous posts suggestion about hoses collapsing. I've seen them get soft and "suck closed" under load, only to resume their original shape at idle speed. The collapse (lower rad hose in this case) was only visible when revving the engine in neutral. Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 Lots of good points there fellas. Thanks. I took the wife out to dinner tonight in the Caddy and it didn't overheat. It would heat for a little bit and then die off and get cold again. Normally, when the heat was working fine it would get the the set temp and then it would get slowly cooler and open the dash vents and blow a little cool air to equalize everything. It will still do that if I drop the temp down a little, but this is weird. I have never had the AC blowing out of the floor vents before. Hmmm... I'm going to keep watching it and see what happens. I'll drive it normal this week and give it some time to get any more air bubbles out. Time will tell I guess. I'll keep y'all updated on the progress. I ran the diagnostics a few weeks ago when this problem was happening and it didn't throw any codes. I'll try again tomorrow and see if anything comes up. I hate the thought of buying a new or used climate control Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 It sure doesn't sound like a cooling system problem. Sounds more like a controler or something like that. Almost sounds as if it is loosing vacuum and a supply or air mix door is closing. How about the asperator hose? That is the one that draws cabin air through the little grill in the dash to sense cabin tempurature. Is that still connected properly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted March 9, 2004 Report Share Posted March 9, 2004 I'm with you on this one Larry. I had a '74 SDV that had a vacuum control valve attached to the automatic climate control. I had weak vacuum in one of the modes that allowed the heat door to open under low vacuum operation (such as heavy foot driving, I was 20 or so at the time). I took the valve apart and found white aluminum oxidation plugging passages and jamming the valve. After a thorough cleaning and lube, everything was fine again. Then the tank filter plugged......... Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Could be guys. It still hasn't overheated again[fingers crossed]. I will look around under the dash this weekend and see if I can find any loose wires or hoses. Where's the aspirator vent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Well, it's been 4 years since I've had the '92 and as you know, the memory is the second thing to go (can't remember what the first is) but as close as I can recall it is about a one inch square (or less) grill or slotts about center dash somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 What about the radiator , it could be slightly clogged. Is it new. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Well, it's been 4 years since I've had the '92 and as you know, the memory is the second thing to go (can't remember what the first is) but as close as I can recall it is about a one inch square (or less) grill or slotts about center dash somewhere. Sounds like you might have a case of "Sometimers" Thanks Larry. I'll go look for it right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted January 10, 2007 Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 Hey! I just read 4 pages and NO conclusion! There went another 15 minutes of my life that were wasted and will never be seen again. Why is this thread in the "Tips" section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel812 Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I would think you have a partially clogged heater core. When the car is first started and warmed up you have heat as normal since the coolant warms up in the heater core also. Once the old (hot) fluid is pushed out new fluid is pushed into the heater core is cold and since its not flowing properly it does not give you heat. If you turn off the heat for about 5 minutes and turn it on I bet you will have heat again for a few minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickster Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I'll bet he doesn't have the car anymore. 2001 STS Mettalic Otter Grey, Black Leather, 213,000 kilometers - miles - ? Still running strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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