I own a 1999 2.2 cavalier. And no matter what I do the car overheats. the car has a newer 2200 engine because the previous owner had blown the engine so it was replaced with a lower mileage cavalier engine. i have gone through two thermostats two water pumps a fan relay, head gasket a radiator. And also a new cap for the antifreeze tank. And still nothing. Its gotten so bad that I have taken the thermostat out of the car just so the antifreeze will keep flowing to keep the car kool. But if I run into traffic my car will overheat. I don't no what else to do. Any help and info would be greatly appreciated

When you slow down in traffic and the heat builds up, does the fan actually turn on?
Blocked coolant passage?

yes the fan kicks on when it starts to get hot .. and i have flushed out the entire system twice just to be sure that nothing was blocked off so i dont believe either of those two things are the problem thanks for the reply though

lol any other ideas though

take a picture of the gauge, and show us how high it gets. because for these cars, it's normal operation for it to get up to almost kissing the red part before the fan kicks on. we're talking like maybe 1/16 of an inch away from the red section.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, August 23, 2009 4:33 PM


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Is the vehicle actually overheating, or is your gauge showing it is?




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

Check to make sure the serpentine belt is on correctly. Maybe it is routed around the water pump backward.

the car guage goes all the way into te red and the car starts to smoke from under the hood and the check gauges light comes on so the car is definetly overheating.... and how will i know if the serpentine belt is on correctly ?? sorry im a little new to this and im learning as i go along... thanks again for all your help in this matter

should be a belt routing pic under the hood somewhere, its a sticker, i dont know anything about the 2.2 so i cant help you with that specifically.



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The belt is on correctly. Thank you. Anything else

Is the bottom radiator hose collapsing? Most bottom radiator hoses have a coil spring in the to keep them from sucking shut.If it is shut, no coolant flow.

it doesnt seem like that...........it seems like the car will over heat then smoke from the antifreeze cap and antifreeze will all shoot out from the overfill tube... but will check the hose anyways, cant hurt to check =) thanks again guys...

id try to remove tstat (which looks like you have done) and drain system, then put some pressure to it, both directions, im thinking you have something plugged in it.

you know, when i redid my 2.4, i used an old hose, it chunked out and clogged up my new t-stat, i chased that gremlin for a couple days before i figured it out, all i had to do was unclog the t-stat and it fixed it. Not saying thats your issue, but im saying, things you think are in good working order, might not always be.



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Are you putting straight antifreeze in, or mixing it 50/50 with water? And are you overfilling the expansion tank?

I haven't seen a J-car boil over... ever. Last car I saw do that was an 81 Pontiac Parisienne...

i dont know what to tell ya cuz im in the same boat with a 97 sunfire 2.2 that had a head gasket replaced along with the thermostat and water pump. my only guess is that the thermostatic fan switch could be bad and not letting the fan operate as it should. so for mine im goin to wire the fan to a switch and see what happens.

I'm using the pre-mixed orange 50/50 coolant. And I only full it up to where it says on the expansion tank. I have a question for you guys though. I was told maybe when the guy who had the car before me put in the engine he didn't put a vacuum line on correctly and that may be my problem. Like a line may be hooked up backwards. Any thoughts on that. And if anyone does agree that this might be it. Will a chiltons repair book have the diagram I need? Thanks again

my chiltons has vacuum diagrams, but then again, not much for vacuum lines to get wrong....



nwuonline.com
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Have you burped the system?

Yes system was burped. Going to check out the vaccuum lines make sure there all on correctly and make sure none are collapsed.

have you pulled a spark plug to make sure your not running lean?



nwuonline.com
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Sorry to ask this but what does running lean mean... Nd how does it relate to the overheating.... Thanks for ur help

more air than fuel, lean mixture burns very hot, causing over heating and usually catastrophic engine failure



nwuonline.com
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let the car cool down

jack up the passanger side of the car as high as you can get it...

put jack stand under it

start car with coolant cap off

let run and work out ANY bubbles..

but if you have been in the red alot...there is a good chance you poped the headgasket anyway




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Make sure you T-stat is working, in a pot of boiling water, the internal wax should expand and compress the spring, and go back when cooled off. If it's working put it back in the car. Without the T-stat in place, the coolant will never get the chance to dissipate the heat before going back through the block and heating up more, and will make your problem worse.
Any CEL's?

is the thermostat installed correctly? the spring has to face the motor