Hey all, first post here so hope I can get a warm welcome and maybe even some help

Here is the jist of it. The van was running great, but couldnt afford to run two vehicles so I pulled it off the road for a month or so. Went to start it up and take it out for a ride, and she didnt want to start nicely! Instead of turning over a few times and firing up, it takes about 5 seconds on the starter now before it catches. You can tell it wants to, but its like its missing something.

Second problem :\

Engine overheats, plus no heat. Initially I thought head gasket! Lack of compression + non compressibles in the combustion chamber would make it hard to start, and a leaky gasket would certainly cause overheating issues.

Gasket appears to be fine. There is no sweet smell in the exhaust (coolant being burnt), there is no coolant mixed in with the oil (checked filler cap and dipstick, both nice and clean), also verified this by putting a drop of oil on the hot manifold, it just smoked a bit and ran down the manifold, didnt sizzle like coolant would. The coolant in the overflow and in the rad is nice and green, no oily residue that I can tell.

I did notice however that the rad coolant level seems low... as in, only half full when at operating temp. I filled the rad up, and pulled on the throttle and noticed some bubbles, and then coolant going down (indicates airlock, or again, head gasket). Checked under the running engine, there is no oil leaks or coolant leaks. The heads seem clean.

After a while of bubbling in the rad, and coolant seemingly disappearing, it eventually began to overflow from the rad cap. I closed the cap, and instead of it overflowing into the tank, it appears to have been leaking elsewhere. I cant see if it was from the rad itself, or from a crack in the overflow tube. Very confusing.

So now I have no idea where to even start! Is it a couple of problems being a dirty fuel system and clogged cooling lines?

Oh, before you say thermostat.. the thermostat does open. Havent confirmed if its lazy or not, but it does open, because the top tube to the rad warmed up rather quickly. Rad cap seems to be in good shape as well.

Thanks for reading my chapter, I know its lots of information. Whats next?

 

Forgot to mention.. with regards to being hard to start. it is only hard to start when cold. if it has run for 10 minutes or so, it will start fine for between 12-16 hours, at which point it will be a rough start again. I live in north ontario canada and it is currently -6 celcius (21 degrees farenheit), if that matters.

The van has given me slow starts a few times in the past when cold, but never a rough start like this, and never an overheating issue.

2001 gr caravan sport 3.3