The first sign of my car starting to have this problem was around Nov. 7 2008. Since that date I have not driven on the highway for more then about 15 miles at one time. During the cold spell when it was getting down to -35 degrees I was continually adding antifreeze, went through about six gallons. I always tried to check and see if it was leaking out of the hoses, but I never could see where there would be antifreeze leaking, and I never found anywhere. So I started to check the radiator when it was overheating and it seemed to be cool to the touch so I determined that the thermostat was stuck causing the antifreeze to get really hot and the antifreeze would just start coming out of the top of the overflow bottle. I then bought a thermostat and tested it on the stove and it opened and close so then I replaced it and I didn't have the problem for a while then I started to do it again so I stopped using the A/C defrost setting on HVAC. I did this thinking that it would reduce the load on the engine. When I did this it stopped over heating so I figure that this summer when my A/C stopped blowing cold and I recharged it blow cold for a while then quit I figured it was a leak. So then I started thinking that maybe the compressor had gone bad. But, just recently it reached the 20 below mark again and it started to over heat again so now I am confused.
My thoughts now are that it might be my poor maintenance habits and hard driving habits. are causing the motor to to get hot in the initial hard acceleration and "i don't know but maybe it would cool itself down if I were to drive a longer distance." The car has 206,000 miles I changed the oil 1,000 miles ago, which was in the middle of this situation so it did not change the situation. I use the cheapest oil I can get and change the oil every 5,000 miles. The antifreeze I have been using is Rotella ELC, which my is what my dad uses in the oil field equipment. I guess I just want your input on things that might be causing it maybe a way to fix or if I will just have to live with it. I would be glad to help with any more info you may want.
