YACT (auto shop should be a gen ed req.)

[Zanix]

Putting "auto" in any form with any other words into any search engine seems to spawn ad results like bunnies...

anyway.


The ol' lady has a '96 Grand Am. She calls me up and says it's "steaming". The temp gauge will top, the light come on, and then go back down. She was low on coolant a couple weeks ago, and I filled it. She said she checked the oil yesterday, and that was low, so she put a quart in. She said it "steamed" on the way home for lunch, on the way back to work, and on the way home to varying degrees. To me it seems like the coolant pump is going bad because of the back and forth motion of the temp, but I'm no mechanic.

Edit: forgot to add: The fan will stay on for a while after parking and turning of the engine. Obvious, I guess, but I thought I'd put that in there.
Edit2: Coolant light has been on for a while now, although it's been filled. I've been told that it needs to be hooked up to a computer to have the thing reset.


The quick question: Any idea how much a new pump would run? Labor?




the long question: Is there anything I can fix here/diagnose/do?







Thanks for the advice everybody. Except about the blinker fluid.

 

[The Stigenator]

you might have a blown head gasket.. too.. if your low on oil.. take out the oil cap see if there is a mayonese texture white thing underneath.. if so you got water in your oil.. you will need a water pump + head gasket + whatever else.. that wouild be about 800-1000.

Waterpump about 200-400.

 

[Darthvoy]

If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

 

[amdskip]

Look at your oil and see if it looks different like it has antifreeze in it. Never drive a car when your temp gauge goes on like that. Pull over and stop until you find out what the problem is. The thermostat may be bad or there may be some large air locks in the cooling system.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

 

[TechnoKid]

may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

No... not specifically. She said though that it's never left any puddles anywhere, or blown any dark smoke in the exaust.

She did say though that the fan will run for a while after she parks and turns the car off.

 

[Lizardman]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

You can Calbriate my water pump any time.


Also how exactly would you do such a thing to a car?

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: Zanix

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

No... not specifically. She said though that it's never left any puddles anywhere, or blown any dark smoke in the exaust.

She did say though that the fan will run for a while after she parks and turns the car off.

if the fan is running after she parks the car, and its not very hot outside, then she has a faulty fan switch, or faulty auxillary fan switch. The fan should only run after the car is shut off only if it is very hot outside. I see this all the time on hondas, and I would think the same applies to any car with a fan switch.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

If you don't calibrate your waterpump properly, you run a high risk of having your pistons smash right into your muffler bearings and leak blinker fluid all over?😕

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: Zanix

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

No... not specifically. She said though that it's never left any puddles anywhere, or blown any dark smoke in the exaust.

She did say though that the fan will run for a while after she parks and turns the car off.

if the fan is running after she parks the car, and its not very hot outside, then she has a faulty fan switch, or faulty auxillary fan switch. The fan should only run after the car is shut off only if it is very hot outside. I see this all the time on hondas, and I would think the same applies to any car with a fan switch.

Ahh.. well, it is Michigan, and it is November. It was about 50 out here today. This does make sence, and I also remembered another point:

The coolant light has been on for a long time now, although myself and her roomates boyfriend (works @ autoshop) have filled it over the summer. Her car has had trouble with low coolant in the past, but it's been full and fine before the "steaming".

 

[tfinch2]

First thing you need to do is teach your wife that overheating is bad. If the car is overheating DO NOT DRIVE IT! If it overheated for longer than 30 seconds while driving, the aluminum head or heads on that car are more than likely warped and cracked to hell. If your losing coolant, check for leaks. If it's a mysterious leak, check the oil. More than likely it's leaking in there. If you are driving the car while it is overheating, don't even bother fixing it, just replace the engine. Antifreeze and engine bearings don't mix.

EDIT: oh and Grand Am's are notorious for leaking lower intake manifold gaskets. I'll bet that's where the coolant and overheating is coming from. You need to take the car to a good shop before you blow the engine.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

If you don't calibrate your waterpump properly, you run a high risk of having your pistons smash right into your muffler bearings and leak blinker fluid all over?😕

blinker fluid? LMAO!

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: Supercharged

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

If you don't calibrate your waterpump properly, you run a high risk of having your pistons smash right into your muffler bearings and leak blinker fluid all over?😕

blinker fluid? LMAO!

what about the aero spoiler fluid????

 

[dmurray14]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

Are you fvcking serious? And how exactly do you think you go about "calibrating" a water pump? Heh..


Anyway, when we had a POS Chrysler minivan, we had the fan relay go bad, and the same thing happened. The fan would turn off when the engine turned on (causing it to overheat) and would turn on when the engine turned off (causing the battery to die). Probably want to get this checked out. Otherwise, check for leaks, and then have a look at your water pump and thermostat. Or, if you're anything like the guy above who thinks you need to have a water pump calibrated, please just leave the "hard" stuff to the mechanic...

Dan

 

[Zanix]

Originally posted by: Zanix

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

No... not specifically. She said though that it's never left any puddles anywhere, or blown any dark smoke in the exaust.

She did say though that the fan will run for a while after she parks and turns the car off.

Actually, she just said its comming from in between the window and the hood, on the passengers side. Man, I hope that helps.

 

[GroundZero]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: Supercharged

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

If you don't calibrate your waterpump properly, you run a high risk of having your pistons smash right into your muffler bearings and leak blinker fluid all over?😕

blinker fluid? LMAO!

what about the aero spoiler fluid????

this is an american car, not a ricer, so there is no aero spoiler fluid!

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: GroundZero

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: Supercharged

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
If it is the water pump you have to have it done by a mechanic because it has to be calibrated.

Edit: I paid around 50 for the pump and 180 for labor.

What the hell are you talking about?

Also check your thermostat.

If you don't calibrate your waterpump properly, you run a high risk of having your pistons smash right into your muffler bearings and leak blinker fluid all over?😕

blinker fluid? LMAO!

what about the aero spoiler fluid????

this is an american car, not a ricer, so there is no aero spoiler fluid!

i know...but that thread was funny beyonf belief. i still can't believe that guy fell for it!
:laugh:

 

[GroundZero]

Originally posted by: Zanix

Originally posted by: Zanix

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
may be the radiator fan, if it steams when not moving, and the fan is bad, it could allow the engine to overheat and steam becasue ther'd be no airflow over the radiator. But if it steams at freeway speeds, then my idea is well, heheh wrong. Just throwing something out there.

Did she say where the steam is coming from?

No... not specifically. She said though that it's never left any puddles anywhere, or blown any dark smoke in the exaust.

She did say though that the fan will run for a while after she parks and turns the car off.

Actually, she just said its comming from in between the window and the hood, on the passengers side. Man, I hope that helps.

i have a 92 grand am and that is where the reservoir is on it. try checking the thermostat, it could be sticky. also remember that this is a closed pressurized system, so if there is a leak anywhere it will spit out the coolant pretty good while driving, so you may not get puddles.
fill up the radiator and reservoir and let it get to temp in the driveway.