overheating?

[Italian Stallion]

1995 firebird, 3.4, just started overheating today, the blinking noise came on, just had water pump replaced couple months back, checked oil it was a little low so i piut a qt in, water was fine, and i checked anti freeze about a week ago and it was full..not sure what the problem could be? i have gauge pillar and one read water and said it was going to 300 degree?! need some help. maybe my themestat could just be broke?

[WildBillyT]

Could be the thermostat.

If I am to understand you correctly, your car made the warning noise and both your gauges started to hit the top of their range?

[Italian Stallion]

yeah thats right.

[WildBillyT]

When you check the oil, is it clean or does it look milky or tan?

[Italian Stallion]

when i checked it last night it was kinda dark, but i guess you could say it was kinda tanish?

[wretched73]

Check oil for antifreeze is what hes saying. best bet is just drain it

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

when i checked it last night it was kinda dark, but i guess you could say it was kinda tanish?

tan is bad sounds like head gaskets dose it over heat quickly or after you drive it a while check it again and lets us know what the color of the oil is if it light tan and not brown that is not good

[Italian Stallion]

it over heats quickly withtin 5 minutes of driving and i will check oil real quick

[Italian Stallion]

just checked oil, and it looked normal no tan or milkyness

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by wretched73

Check oil for antifreeze is what hes saying. best bet is just drain it

Yup. I am thinking it may be a head gasket issue.

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

it over heats quickly withtin 5 minutes of driving and i will check oil real quick

if it over heats that quick it is most likly headgaskets go to advance and rent a head gasket tester or buy one it is about $30 dose the 95 have a rad cap or just the tank

[Italian Stallion]

i had a problem with my head gasket before it was cracked i think but i had my mechanic put some stuff on it that was supposed to seal the leak and then white smoke someitmes comes out from under my engine because i think the oil hits something hot and makes the smoke?

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

i had a problem with my head gasket before it was cracked i think but i had my mechanic put some stuff on it that was supposed to seal the leak and then white smoke someitmes comes out from under my engine because i think the oil hits something hot and makes the smoke?

frist off if your mechanic used that fix all in a bottle i would start looking for a REAL mechanic and those fix all in abottle are only bandaids on a bigger problem they are not ment for a permeant fix so now it is time to fix the problem the only real problem is you have to drop out the motor from underneath the car

[BonzoHansen]

what he said

[Italian Stallion]

is it gunna cost alot?

[BonzoHansen]

define a lot. Someone like Adam can probably give you a better estimate (look up labor, etc.) but a quick wild ass guess for a pure head gasket job is probably $750-900. More if heads need to be milled/replaced.

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

is it gunna cost alot?

the truth is yes it will cos it is a pita of a job to do at the dealer i worked at when we had them come in for head gaskets we replaced the motor cos by the time you get it out pull the heads off to have checked and surfeced and all it was alot then not to mention if you have a cracked head but on a bright side if you where thinking about a motor swap now is the time sorry i dont have any better news for you did you say the your temp gauge went up to 300 isnt 260 red line

[Italian Stallion]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

define a lot. Someone like Adam can probably give you a better estimate (look up labor, etc.) but a quick wild ass guess for a pure head gasket job is probably $750-900. More if heads need to be milled/replaced.

thats pretty ****** but alot is more than like 650. im only 18 lol i dont have lots of money just sitting around.

[Italian Stallion]

Originally Posted by 92rs

the truth is yes it will cos it is a pita of a job to do at the dealer i worked at when we had them come in for head gaskets we replaced the motor cos by the time you get it out pull the heads off to have checked and surfeced and all it was alot then not to mention if you have a cracked head but on a bright side if you where thinking about a motor swap now is the time sorry i dont have any better news for you did you say the your temp gauge went up to 300 isnt 260 red line

yeah, thats what i figured, and i think i do have a cracked head, but wouldnt it still be cheaper if i got the head fixed instead of doing an engine swap? because when i first joined a posted a thread about thatand everryone said buy the time i got done with all the costs it would have been smarted to just save up to buy a ws6 or lt1? and yeah the water temp on my pillar gauges went up too 300..

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

yeah, thats what i figured, and i think i do have a cracked head, but wouldnt it still be cheaper if i got the head fixed instead of doing an engine swap? because when i first joined a posted a thread about thatand everryone said buy the time i got done with all the costs it would have been smarted to just save up to buy a ws6 or lt1? and yeah the water temp on my pillar gauges went up too 300..

yes it would be cheper to fix your motor but if you got it up 300 i am not sure what outher intrunel damage my have been done to the motor and yes you can save your money and just get a ws6 t/a if you want to but then again it my be just me i have a 92 camaro rs v6 with 211000 miles on it but i want to swap the motor for a 350 carb but you do have a 4th gen so things are diffrent for you my car is never going to be worth any real money like a ws6 or irock z but i can have a car that will handle like them and i will be paying a lot less for carr ins to it up to you what ever you want to do how munh do you like the car is it spichel to you

[Italian Stallion]

well yeah it car is special, it is my first car and i love it..just wish it had more power..it is just a 3.4 v6..wish i had atleast a 3.8, wouldnt it be much easier and cheaper to just find a ta with a v8

[92rs]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

well yeah it car is special, it is my first car and i love it..just wish it had more power..it is just a 3.4 v6..wish i had atleast a 3.8, wouldnt it be much easier and cheaper to just find a ta with a v8

yes it would be easier but you have to remenber the t/a v8 are not cheep a nice 4th gen in good shape would coast about 4500 to 6000 or you could find a good used 3.4L motor to put back in it my car was a gift from my dad and it means a lot to me i sold it to a friend at one point in time and as soon as he said he was selling it i got it back so to me the work is worth it but i can do a lot of the stuff myself to so just wish i had a extra hand to help out with it you can always get anouther car and just keep this one in your back yard untill you have time / money to fix it the way you want it only you can decide what you want to do with it

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by Italian Stallion

and i think i do have a cracked head

you have zero way of knowing that right now. the beginning of this conversation you were thinking about a t-stat. the only way for sure is to get a good mechanic to look at it. and you won't know about a head issue until it is disassembled. be ready because that is not free, even if you find out it is bad and decide not to continue. so at minimum you have a few hours of diagnostic time coming at you. just preparing you for what is ahead.

and if your current mechanic tried to fix it with stop leak, find a new one.


and stop thinking engine swap because judging by this you cannot do that yourself and it will cost you more than buying a v8 car to have it done right.

[Italian Stallion]

thanks for you help guys. hope its not bad..

[Italian Stallion]

got the car back a couple hours ago, it was some sort of electrical problem with my a pillar gauges and my actual gauges? apparently something with the fuse made them switch readings or something? and my car thought it was over heating but in fact it wasnt.