Overheating problem

Asked by Sdawn629 Jan 22, 2019 at 05:15 AM about the 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix Base

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

About 2 years ago my car had an overheating
problem that required the elbows to be
changed. We changed them and it ran
GREAT for about a year and a half and it had
an awful overheating problem. It got so hot
that I would press the gas and the car would
tick over and over and wouldn’t accelerate
and said shut engine down. I immediately
parked it and haven’t touched it since
because I had a baby and didnt have the
money to fix it. I’m now wanting to figure the
problem out and try to see what’s wrong. I
“burped” the system to eliminate air pockets
but the radiator does have THICK sludge in
it. I’m thinking this is the problem but I don’t
know if it’s a head gasket or not. I don’t want
to pour money into this car not knowing. Any
ideas? Also. The overflow tank has a crack in
it but holds enough water below the crack. It
isn’t the water pump. I’m just at a loss

2 Answers

26,835

First, if your coolant is sludge as you indicated, drain and flush the system. Then, see if the car will start and run without over heating. If it still over heats, check to see if the water pump is circulating coolant through the radiator by opening the radiator cap (cold engine only!), starting the engine, and, after the thermostat opens, observe the coolant flowing inside the throat of the radiator. No flow, bad pump or stuck thermostat. Replace the Tstat first then, if problem is still there, replace the pump. These things will be a good starting point. If you sill have a problem, write again and we'll pick it up from there. Good luck.

1 people found this helpful.

Question: my '07 G6 has only the overflow tank accessable, would this process still work?

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