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'01 Malibu keeps on draining coolant out of the overflow


smokin5s

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my g-f's '01 Malibu got in an accident a week or so ago. I replaced her radiator (with a 3400 series radiator... which seems to be fine although she has a 3100 series motor) but about every 3 days, her car shits out some coolant out of the overflow.... any ideas on what can cause that.... once it's done draining out of the overflow, it's low on coolant and I have to add some.
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you sure? it seems to keep the car cool for several days... and I can squeeze the lower radiator hose and make the coolant swish around in the resivoir.

 

well I'm not sure just throwing out some possibilities.

 

that or your mix has too much water and not enough coolant.

 

those are teh only things that ever caused my car to overheat.

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sounds like you have a blown head gasket my friend, very common on that engine (3100 and 3400) i don't know why it is but during the last 4 months i bet i've done 10 head gaskets on those engines and about half of them needed at least 1 head for being cracked. right not its a very minor leak since its only spiting out coolant every few days but it will get worse.
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head gasket or a bad radiator cap!thats the one with the cap on the jug right! if so those always go bad! but do a block test just to be safe...

p.s. they are bad about leaking coolant at the intake gaskets aswell!

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compression test my not find it! if its a real same leak, then you need to do a leakdown test!

replace the cap, there are TSB's on it anyway. Plus they dont cost much!

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Cooling system has air in the lines. My 4.3L did the same thing after I replaced the lower intake gasket. Being an 01, you should go ahead and replace the thermostat and radiator cap also. Air in the system is lowering the boiling temp, causing it to boil over. This can also be caused by a faulty radiator cap.
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black metal pipe the comes out of the top of the water pump. i think its a 7mm head.

 

 

open the bleeder, then fill the jug up till all the air is out and you got coolant coming out!

 

and really if it has a air pocket, it would be over heating. If it was having some headgasket issues ..it would be overheating, or at least hotter then normal!

 

on the odd chance, if it has the metal line coming off the t stat housing and it goes in to the top of the jug, if seen those metal lines , plug up and it not let the air bypassback to the jug.

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I know there's not a metal line going into the jug... it only have a rubber one that goes straight into the radiator.

 

I kinda figured if it had air pockets it would overheat... but it doesn't.... I'll look for the bleeder valve at lunch today and see if I can find it.. I looked when I filled it originally and never found it.

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I know there's not a metal line going into the jug... it only have a rubber one that goes straight into the radiator.

 

I kinda figured if it had air pockets it would overheat... but it doesn't.... I'll look for the bleeder valve at lunch today and see if I can find it.. I looked when I filled it originally and never found it.

 

 

I'm thinking its a bad radiator cap / thermostat at this point. If you had a head gasket issue, the symptoms would most likely include disappearing coolant, and milky or bubbly oil. Coolant overflowing is usually a boiling issue, caused by air, thermostat, or radiator cap. If it were me, I'd replace the thermostat and radiator cap and see if it continues. Just my two cents.

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I'm really thinking that there's air in the system.... this all started happening after I replaced the radiator.... (of course she did get in a wreck so who knows what all is messed up as well as who knows how long she drove her car once it got hot)
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