chiefjay Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 03 Chevy Malibu Cooling system acting crazy. Background: Had a flush done a few years ago and by the looks of it appears there was some radiator "patch" added at some point, not sure if it was at the time or in a previous year, honestly I don't recall having that done but we see remnents of it. We flushed it again this past week and put a new thermostat on it and cleared out the hoses. The system seems to be flowing ok at times, heat works fine, etc... We looked at it some more yesterday, at one point the car had been running about 20 minutes and working fine then started to heat up. No heat coming out of the fan blowers inside, radiator was oddly cold, not hot at all. We goofed around with it for a bit then it started working, heat started to work, temp gauge went down and radiator got hot, seeminly started to work. Then it just got real hot and the pressure started to build up and I can see where my coolant is going, the pressure is building up and pushing it right through the overflow tube, basically gushing out of there when we push on the gas pedal and build up the RRPMs. At that point we were a bit perplexed. Is it just the radiator malfunctioning, maybe plugged at times, then releasing then gets plugged again or is it the intake gasket manifold? I've read up a bit on it and found that it could be an issue with the 3.1 engine that GM has in the 03 Malibu but that said I probably could find a site like that on any car / any problem? I don't know. TBIMM, gang, what do you think? Thx, CJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Where to start? The cooling system on that engine can be tricky. When you replaced the thermostat did you use the 2 bleeder screws when refilling it? Lets just start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Also. The residue you are seeing may be caused by switching from Dexcool, an orange coolant, to regular green coolant. The 2 do not mix well and leave behind the same type of residue you will see after using Bars leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 Where to start? The cooling system on that engine can be tricky. When you replaced the thermostat did you use the 2 bleeder screws when refilling it? Lets just start there. i'm not a huge car guy so bear with me. We bled one screw, the driver side screw. Ok, on the coolant because I'm sure I've mixed them although I tried to stay with the Dex Cool over the years. I've heard there have been problems with the Dex Cool also. Thx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 i'm not a huge car guy so bear with me. We bled one screw, the driver side screw. Ok, on the coolant because I'm sure I've mixed them although I tried to stay with the Dex Cool over the years. I've heard there have been problems with the Dex Cool also. Thx. Yes the dexcool can break down but most often it is due to a mix with green coolant. It only takes once to gum up the system. There is a second bleeder on the passenger side of the engine. It is on top of the black metal tube coming across the front of the engine. The 3.1 is also susceptible to intake manifold leaks as you mentioned in your original post. Are your cooling fans operating properly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddahj Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Where to start? The cooling system on that engine can be tricky. When you replaced the thermostat did you use the 2 bleeder screws when refilling it? Lets just start there. You could have an air pocket in the system. Are the radiator hoses getting hot? Also. The residue you are seeing may be caused by switching from Dexcool, an orange coolant, to regular green coolant. The 2 do not mix well and leave behind the same type of residue you will see after using Bars leak. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Fans seem to be operating properly but I also feel they are not functioning 100%, especially the last time we looked at it they were working for a while and then just stopped. Yes, air pockets seem to be a possibility, we tried to take them out and that seems to work briefly but then got bad again. Most hoses are getting hot, possibly all of them. I got a friend of my BIL working on it. He is going to test some of the sensors, hose temps, etc... Thanks for the help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 Don't mean to keep bumping this but until I'm feel 100% sure on this I may. The guy changed the overflow tank itself. Said that was causing the pressure build up. Said he check everything out, the manifold looks good, no leaks elsewhere, etc... Drove it to work today. Cold morning here in SE Michigan. I always put my fan on high right when I get in the car. Drove it to go vote and then on my way to work, about 10 minutes, fan on high, got hot, no hot air coming out. Turned switch to medium but know that my switch doesn't work below the highest setting. Once I did that the temp went down. I wanted to test it out some more so i turned the fan back to high to see if the heat would work and it did start to work. So I drove around a bit before going to work, it stayed at a reasonable temp. Got to work, looked under the hood for a sec, over flow tank looked good, not low and nothing pouring out of the tube. I'll keep an eye on it, if anything clicks here let me know TBIMM or others. Is it possibly my fan switch is causing any of this? Thx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 chief - you said hoses and engine get hot, but radiator stays cool? If that's the case I'd bet the thermostat you put in was bad. If you have no leaks, and the radiator stays cool, then the coolant isn't circulating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 chief - you said hoses and engine get hot, but radiator stays cool? If that's the case I'd bet the thermostat you put in was bad. If you have no leaks, and the radiator stays cool, then the coolant isn't circulating. ok, i'll keep that in mind. I may need to assess that once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 ok, i'll keep that in mind. I may need to assess that once again. It wouldn't be the first one that was stuck shut from the beginning. I always make sure I can open them before I leave the parts store with them. Just press down on the little round piece that the spring holds up. It takes some doing with your fingers but make sure you can open it somehow or don't put it in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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