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overheating and no heat

Old Jul 23, 2009 | 03:26 PM
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Default overheating and no heat

my mom has a 98 caravan, while drivin it over heats al of a sudden and it doesnt blow any hot air, would this be thermostat related or somethign to do with heater core? any info would be great thanks
 
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Old Jul 23, 2009 | 03:32 PM
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Default Overheating

I would suspect air in the system as opposed to a thermostat issue. Try taking off the radiator cap and then burping the system by squeezing the upper radiator hose several times. Do this both with engine off and engine running.
 
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Old Jul 23, 2009 | 03:53 PM
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the resivoir level was below min(possibly how air would get into system?) about 2 inches, i just topped it off but ill try what you said
 
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Old Jul 23, 2009 | 10:17 PM
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If the T-stat is stuck close the cooling system will overheat and only cool air will come out the vents.
 
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Old Jul 24, 2009 | 03:18 PM
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well after tryin that burping thing, doesnt seem to make a diff so im guessin its the thermostat, is it easy to change? im not even sure where its located on her van lol, im a pontiac owner
 
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Old Jul 24, 2009 | 03:42 PM
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Default Overheating

Pretty easy, follow the upper radiator hose to the engine, remove hose, remove thermostat housing and replace the thermostat.
 
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Old Jul 29, 2009 | 04:08 AM
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Sounds more like head gasket blown up. Is there any air comming from expanding reserviour? Do you smell gas and exaust gas in engine compartment? If so - I bet it is head gasket.
 
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Old Jul 30, 2009 | 12:37 PM
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isnt it really loud usually if you blow a head gasket, van still runs fine, doesnt sound any diff, other than the lifter noise, which every van with a 3.0 seems to have that problem lol
 
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Old Jul 30, 2009 | 01:23 PM
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yeah was head gasket lol mechanic looked at it, 310k kilometers on the engine and tranny, id say it lived a good life lol
 

Last edited by Norco; Jul 30, 2009 at 01:29 PM.
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Old Jul 31, 2009 | 04:58 AM
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Why LIVED? Change gasket and back on a road. I did it by myself without any previous experience and gess what? It worked, I put another 10K miles on it before I sold it and it was still running! If you need follow ups let me know. It is not that hard and it is cheap. It cost me $110 for gasket set.
 
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