Hi All,
I have a 1993 Sunbird SE for a winter beater. It's got the 2.0L motor and it's at 101,000 KMS right now.
The problem is that the temp guage fluctuates quite a bit. When it's first started it warms up until 3/4 then goes to 1/4 then back up and down like this for a bit until it steadies out centering around the half way mark. As you are driving it'll fluctuate from about 2 needle widths below half to 3 or 4 needle widths above half. If you stop it'll go almost to the 3/4 mark then eventually settle down and continue as stated above.
Is this normal for this motor to do this?
Late last winter (around late Feb, early March) before i parked it for the summer I put a heater core and a rad in it so I'm ruling those out at this point. I recently put a new rad cap on it cause it didn't feel like it was sealing properly plus it looked like the original one.
I have good heat out of it so that's not a concern, just that it seems to fluctuate a lot more than any other vehicle I've owned.
Have you replaced the thermostat? Have you checked to see if the cooling fan is coming on?
Scotty Bishop wrote:Have you replaced the thermostat? Have you checked to see if the cooling fan is coming on?
Ya, thermostat was changed when the rad was done. I haven't completely ruled it out though. I'm gonna try another one on the weekend.
Tonight it ran for about a half an hour on the highway at around the 3/4 mark then all of a sudden dropped down to half and continued it's fluctuating up and down centering around the half mark.
I recommend using that prestone yellow antifreeze.....(not the pre-mixed)
I have a 2.0 turbo motor and it stays at 1/4........it only heats up to half when its idling.....then my fan cools it to 1/4 again. so which antifreeze are you using?
my buddie turbo bird does the same thing. itll go up to about 3/4 then the t-stat pops open and it drops to about 1/4.
make sure your coolant level is filling the t-stat housing, if it gets low the t-stat wont open at the right temp. you could try a 180 degree t-stat.
The cooling systems for the 2.0s suck. What you are describing sounds actually normal although it can vary on how fast the whole process happens. You may have had an air pocket past the bypass valve to the heater core that travelled elsewhere in the cooling system once you used your heat again?
I deffiantely wouldn't rule out an air pocket.
When I did my motor build, I did a custom (huge) radiator set-up with a 160 degree thermostat and independant fan set-up. With the aluminum radiator I am using dexcool.
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jordan kruger wrote:I recommend using that prestone yellow antifreeze.....(not the pre-mixed)
I have a 2.0 turbo motor and it stays at 1/4........it only heats up to half when its idling.....then my fan cools it to 1/4 again. so which antifreeze are you using?
It's got the green stuff in there. Was new when the rad was changed last spring.
sharkey wrote:my buddie turbo bird does the same thing. itll go up to about 3/4 then the t-stat pops open and it drops to about 1/4.
make sure your coolant level is filling the t-stat housing, if it gets low the t-stat wont open at the right temp. you could try a 180 degree t-stat.
When I took the rad cap off the level was right at the top, actually a little spilled out.
I'm not sure which t-stat is in there right now, whatever the factory replacement is. Anyways, I'm gonna check the level and see if it's down at all. There's still some in the reservoir so I'm thinking the level is ok but I'll still check it.
M I N I O N - Sinbird wrote:The cooling systems for the 2.0s suck. What you are describing sounds actually normal although it can vary on how fast the whole process happens. You may have had an air pocket past the bypass valve to the heater core that travelled elsewhere in the cooling system once you used your heat again?
I deffiantely wouldn't rule out an air pocket.
When I did my motor build, I did a custom (huge) radiator set-up with a 160 degree thermostat and independant fan set-up. With the aluminum radiator I am using dexcool.
An air pocket is kinda came to mind when this all started. What's the best way to get rid of it? Run the car with the radcap off and t-stat out until it's all warmed up?
I am having the same problem with my 2.0 Sunbird. The temp fluctuates heavily on the car. I to changed the heater core, radiator, hoses, thermostat, and water pump. I never thought about it but I guess it could be a air pocket in the cooling system. What is the best way to get rid of a air pocket? I recently changed the thermostat down to a 180 but now it seems like the car runs to cold. The cooling system for the 2.0 is a pill.
If your cooling system is in proper order it will run only 1/4th the way on the temp guage. That's where mine runs, and when I hook the computer up to it it says it's at 180 to 190 while driving.
1/4 of the way on the temp guage is only 120 degrees IIRC. so 180 would be at 1/2 the temp guage making 220 3/4 and 260 4/4 ofthe temp guage. Mine fluctuates between 120 andabout 200 for the most part during start p then when I begin to drive it stays constant at 150-160
