Ok i have a 2003 monte carlo ss. Now there is nothing on it all stock and all of a sudden now my thermostat for my engine heat is going half way up. Now im not use to it going this high it usually goes to the big notch before half now all of a sudden its going half way up. Is this normal or is my car overheating. My coolant is full also

 

also should probably add like a couple days ago when i checked the coolant it was empty so i drove to the autozone and picked up some dexcool and put it into the coolant tank in the engine bay

 

when adding the coolent where you running the engine with the rad cap off and filled it till it was over flowing? also, when you say "coolant tank", do you mean overflow tank? if so, the coolant will not get to the rad that way.

 

no i had the engine off when i put the coolant in. And when i filled the overflow tank it did not overflow it was completely empty now its about half way full. So your saying i have to take off the rad cap and fill that with coolant. Also could this be the cause of why me engine is over heating

 

Your leaking coolant from somewhere....

If there is no visible leaks on the driveway, chances are you got an Intake Manifold gasket leaking. Super common on the 3.4L and 3.8L...(head gaskets more common on 3.4L, intake more common on 3.8L)...

 

so im lookin at a pretty penny to fix this

 

If its the intake gasket, or the head gasket, then yes, its not going to be cheap...

If its something more simple like a water pump, it won't be bad at all...but I think you'd be seeing coolant leak on the driveway.

If your not seeing any coolant leaking, it has to be going somewhere, because your overflow container did not empty itself...chances are its leaking internally into your engine, which is NO good at all, and needs to be fixed ASAP. Plus like I said, its a common problem on these cars, so I would not be surprised...

 

well i just went outside and looked there is a puddle by the front right of my car right infront of the tire

 

Halfway on the Temp gauge = 195°

You thermostat = 195°

I don't see what the problem is? Unless you are still missing coolant...

 

i may think i might have a leak. Cause when i drive around then let my car sit there is a puddle by my front right tire. And also it takes about 5 minutes for my car to get to that temperature is that about right