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Alright, I didn't want to make this thread without googling, but I can't seem to find my particular problem anywhere so any help would be appreciated.
I drive a used 2000 Chevy Malibu and it's got a huge overheating problem. I can go weeks without anything happening but then randomly for no reason my temp will spike and not go down unless I turn the car off. When I bought it, it had a new water pump, and thermostat, and I had the fan replaced already. So far the constant symptoms I've noticed is the temp will fluctuate until it finds an equilibrium and stay steady, sometimes when I unscrew the reservoir coolant will pout out the overflow, and there's a large amount of smoke coming from my exhaust. Any ideas would be a huge help because I'm lost at this point. Plz and thnx.
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>>16534660
The coolant is the proper color? It doesn't have oil in it?
Check your oil for any coolant leaks into it.
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>>16534840
Both the coolant and oil seem to be their proper color. Granted I kind of flip back and forth between concentrate and 50/50 coolant depending on what's available. But the oil is constantly the same color and consistency.
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>>16534660
If you don't have OBD2 to check the car, some store chains such as O'Reilly's have a free OBD2 check they can give you. The error codes may give you a hint as to what the overall problem is based on the codes the car computer is throwing out.
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>>16534862
Thanks, I kind of suspect a head gasket leak (hence the exhaust smoke) but getting the CEL figured out would be a big help. One more thing, sometimes when I park it and get out I can smell burned coolant outside of it.
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Based on your description it could be a head gasket. You should check to make sure your cooling fans are coming on and that your thermostat isnt stuck though.
Another way to check for head gasket damage is to let your car cool down. Open the radioator cap and then start the car. Let it idle until it heats up and watch it. If the fans come on thats good. If you see bubbles coming up in your radiator after it gets warm thats means you ha e a head gasket leak.
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>>16534949
If your cooling fans are intermittently turning on, then that could be the overheating problem. When they work, your car doesn't overheat. Unfortunately, the overheating may have damaged the head gasket, thus the overpressure has forced a small coolant leak into the combustion chamber, hence the smoke.
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>>16534660
Head gasket. Car not worth fixing. Now is your opportunity to get something better. It won't be hard to find something better, anything that is not a 5th gen Malibu will do the trick.
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>>16534852
dude, i always just buy the concentration and pour half of ot into an old milk jug then fill the rest with water
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