Thought my max was on its last mile...but i revived it from the dead despite what a mechanic was telling me. Anyhow, while having him replace my valve cover gaskets, he replaced the top radiator hose (sends coolant to the block) and my thermostat. He also told me i had a small hole on the top of the radiator. Got my car back and i replaced the radiator myself...car seemed to run fine with no overheating or anything, although it would take forever for the car to get some actual hot heat blowing. A few days later, one of the small coolant hoses on the left side of the engine got a hole and i replaced it days later. Then a small hose on the right side (under like a U-bend coolant hose) ended up leaking from a hole also. Replaced that one as well....now after replacing that hose, my car has been running hot ever since. All hoses are hot and coolant flowing through them except the big hose that returns coolant to the radiator. On top of that, i can smell coolant as if i have a leak somewhere, but no leak is visible! Any members have any suggestions on what is going on or what might be a possible solution to my problem????

Seems like i'm having problem after problem with the good ol' max...put over 100,000 miles on and i didnt have to change anything on it (except brakes and a few other monthly things) up until now.... so i really can't complain!!

 

sounds to me like your thermostat that he changed went bonkers..or he put it in backwards..dont know about the fluid smell maybe one of the other guys can help...

 

So no leaks on the ground?

Does your tailpipe have white crust on the tips? Are you actually losing coolant at the reservoir and inside the rad? Does the oil on your dipstick look thick? If so, you might have a bad cylinder head gasket, which does make the car run hot. I hope this isn't it, but I take it you did the rad properly and bled the air out of the system.

 

no, theres no leaks on the ground what-so-ever! I'm going to have to check the things you mentioned when i do my oil change! I did the rad properly, but i didnt bleed the air out of the system...didnt know that had to be done. Everything was kosher until i had the last hose changed!

 

I second the motion. Bleed your coolant system. You would be surprised how many times I have seen pockets of air cause heating issues. Try it out. Especially since so many components were replaced that could easily introduce air. Good luck.

 

that might just be the problem!! its weird cause it will go up to H on the temp gauge and at any given moment it will go down a lil and then rise back up!

 

Wait is thermostat in the top radiator hose or the lower?

 

UM....how do bleed the system?

 

There is a screw near the temperature sensor (I think it looks a little copper like).


Well normally when filling coolant for the first time, you remove the bleeder screw, then add coolant to the radiator till it reaches the overfill screw, then install the screw and finish adding coolant to the radiator, then add a little more than half to the overflow tank (since the system should auto bleed itself and use up some of the coolant in the overflow tank).


If the mechanic installed an oem original thermostate there would be no way to install it backwards since it would not fit in the houseing. A cheaper aftermarket thermostate might fit backwards. Its kinda unlikely though, they aren't that stupid.

 

IIRC, the thermostat won't fit in backwards on a VE. not enough room on the back of the housing.

 

thanks....i know exactly where that screw is!!

 

ok ok...took me a minute to do since work occupied a lot of my time this week, but i bled the system and checked everything someone mentioned i needed to check! everything checks out good, but the car still is getting very hot and i still smell anti-freeze if i push it kinda hard. Just out the blue, can the water pump leak but not drip on the ground??? Reason i'm asking is because i've had the car for over 100k miles and i havent had to change anything except brakes, tires, oil, filters, etc (nothing major) since i've had the car!!

 

how about the belts? The thing is, your power steering and WP are on the same belt. so if the wp belt slipped it would be hard to steer. but you might wanna check the belt anyway (really replace all of them IMO).

100K on a WP is a lot, ita a PITA on the VE, but do-able after you figure it out.

 

your temp gauge is on the blink...heater core prob leaking(thats where you smell antifreeze) when your temp goes very high bash on the dash and see if it drops..bet it does...

 

i dont smell anti-freeze inside the car, its when i exit the car so i think that eliminates the heater core....but i will try bashing on the dash and will see what happens!!