plz help (1998 Caviler over heating)

[murrillcg]

Ok, let me start off by saying that I am not a Chevy man. I prefer FORD'S. Anyways, my son sold his Ford Ranger and bought a 1998 Chevy Caviler. Well shortly after he brought it home it started to over heat, so I went to check it out. What I saw was a lot of rust in the overflow tank (no mixture between the oil or coolant). So we flushed the system and replaced the thermostat and radiator cap, but the car still overheats. I am 100% positive that the thermostat is in right, and the fan does come on. We spent about an hour lastnight trying to burp the system, but still seems to have air in the system.

I am thinking the water pump might be going out, but not positive. The car does make a sound like a bearing or something is about to go out, but I thought it might be the a/c compressor, because the air doesnt work(another issue I will worry about later).

The car will run fine with the radiator cap off and idleing, but as soon as we give it some gas it starts to come out of the resovior, and when we put the cap on it starts to run hot. The fan comes on, but doesnt cool it down. When I start to loosen the cap (when hot) it makes sounds like there is still air in the system.

Does anyone have any ideals what I should do, or could be the problem. I have heard that it could be the head gasket, but like I said there is no mixture between the oil and coolant.

I need to get this thing running so my son and get off his other end and get a job.

[Team Lightning]

When looking into the radiator with the cap off, do you see any flow of coolant? Once the thermostat opens, you should be able to see the coolant flowing thru the radiator. If not, either the thermostat is not opening, it's in wrong, or the water pump isn't pumping.

[bhazard]

Or the radiator is plugged up.

[shadetree]

Through your completed message I going with headgasket. I had to do mine three times. And by now the head is warped so you might look in to having it shave as well as I did two times. Ended up with double headgaskets and sold it. Good luck

[FB71]

what engine? it matters.

[neanderpaul]

my son sold his Ford Ranger and bought a 1998 Chevy Caviler. Well shortly after he brought it home it started to over heat,

I'd be talking to he p.o. about ripping you off FIRST

[want a festiva]

cars built around that time and some older have a thermostat that opens too close to boil over temp., i'd try replacing with a 160 degree one look at the owners manual they tell you not to let the car idle over such and such minutes or it will overheat

[murrillcg]

ok, heres a update. I replaced the thermostat, and flushed the system twice with the crap you buy at the parts store and replaced the coolant, but it still is overheating. Tomorrow I will buy a water pump and replace it, hopefully that will work. The first crap I got out of there was pretty bad, so maybe the water pump is bad (like I first thought) or the radiator is still clogged. I really dont want to do a head gasket, but if worse comes to worse then I guess I have no choice. I think neanderpaul asked what engine it has. It's a 2.2L OHV.

It was running right, then my son took it to the store, and was running the a/c and it started to overheat. He does not let it get into the red so it doesnt completely get hot, but its still too close for me. I hope this info will help someone help me.

[stevewl1164]

My Cavalier is a 2.2 ohv and it runs slightly to the right of the middle when driving at 65 mph. Idling it goes to just a hair further and then the cooling fan comes on. My a/c doesn't work either. And my dash has a lot of cracks near the windshield. From my experience, the 2.2 ohv leaks at the drivers side near the right front corner...out and not in. Knock wood...this one is holding and has not needed repair yet!

[CConsuegra]

Cooling problem

One thought. Make sure the thermostats are operating/opening. Prior to installing, check by boiling them in water on the stove. Operating thermostats will open as the water begins to reach the boiling point. Quality control can be poor and new thermostats can fail to operate properly. It is a pain when you assume a new part is operating properly and they are defective.

[FB71]

hmm... 2.2OHVs are petty bullit-proof, but it is possible you have a ruptured head gasket. Do you know how / have the tools to check for that?

[murrillcg]

ok, so i changed the water pump and still no luck. I did a little more inspecting and found that between the radiator and condensor that there was a decent size mud dobber nest on the condensor(no worry), and what looked like a bunch of grass in a area at the bottom. So maybe the radiator is messed up at the bottom. I was really trying not to do that or a head gasket, but that is a lot easy and maybe a little cheaper.

As far as the head gasket goes, if it was leaking, wouldn't it be smoking, or leaking into the oil, or oil in the coolant? It doesnt smoke and there is no cross contaminant. Other than to do a compression check, I am not sure how to do the check to see if the head is cracked, and do not have the tools to do either.