Chevrolet Malibu Overheating

From the Chevy Cavalier and Monte Carlo to the Malibu, Lumina and Impala.
Ask our auto mechanics for help to all your Chevrolet car questions now.
guestsss

Chevrolet Malibu Overheating

Unread post by guestsss » Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:34 pm

Problem with my 1997 Chevrolet Malibu
3400 V6
The car has been running warm, and two days ago it got really hot and steam was rolling out of it after I shut the car off. Today, I was driving it and like I said it was running warm, no where near over heating according to the temp gauge. I turned a corner and the car shut off, and would not restart, again with the steam rolling out from under the hood, though not quite as badly. The car would not restart, so I left it. About 3 hours later it started back up, long enough for me to get it the 50 ft into the driveway and it was running fine and sounded like it normally would. I had no coolant available and the tank was dry again so I dumped a bunch of water in there. Seems all the water is running out from somewhere that looks like its under the engine.. in the center. Not really towards the front. Tried starting the car, and it is now spraying water everywhere and gets hot pretty much immediatly upon start up... What is the problem..? I come from a family!
of mechanics, and I have never seen nor heard of this.

User avatar
TerryAuto
Posts: 313
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:48 pm

Re: Chevrolet Malibu Overheating

Unread post by TerryAuto » Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:31 pm

Need a pressure test to find the leak.
Water pump, hose, heater core, intake gaskets...
Be sure to check the Similar Topics down this page for more help.

Taly
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:46 pm

Chevy Malibu engine overheat pours water makes noise

Unread post by Taly » Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:28 pm

:) hello. I have a 2002 Malibu that was heated and water entered the pistons wetting the spark plugs. as a result I replace the head gaskets and the intake manifold, and replace the thermostat, tighten the screws as hard as I could but do not use any kind of measure of pressure on both heads. I put the valves as you showed in another post. thanks for that. but now the problem is that the engine turns faster when opening the key sounds great no kind of noise coming from the engine. but quickly the engine starts to overheat pours water reservoir makes noises in the radiator and hoses as absorbing and sometimes not enough time to turn the cooling fans, hot air does not come out and do not heat the heater hoses. I have not replaced the water pump or the radiator or the reservoir because I do not want to buy things for nothing. just replace the gaskets with new ones. but is warming, why is that?.
I'm using just water in the radiator, I do not want to waste the coolant. is this right to test the motor?

User avatar
ProTech
Posts: 651
Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:08 am

Re: the engine starts to overheat pours water makes noises i

Unread post by ProTech » Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:42 pm

You probably overheated it bad enough the first time that it did more damage than just replacing the head gaskets can fix. You could have warped one or both cylinder heads, cracked a head, cracked the block, warped the block, etc. Lots can go wrong when an engine overheats. And since you didn't actually torque the heads down to a proper spec, that can be a real problem too. Also, the head bolts needs to be replaced when do a job like that, which you probably didn't do either.

More than likely, the engine is junk now. I wouldn't waste a lot of money trying to figure it out.
GM Dealer Technician For 18+ Years
In the automotive industry for 20+

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post