overheating , but should i put coolant in radiator or reserve tank
 

GUYS, just last night my car's temp swung way to the right and into the redzone and i got the dreadful HOT COOLANT TEMP light flash. so i am in a similar position as most with OH problems. let me lay down the facts first.

-2003 ss
-130k miles
-3800 v6
-im not getting any warm / hot air with heat engaged
-i havent got any steam or smoke from it overheating .
i may have driven the car no more than 10 miles from when the first hot coolant temp warning flashed (not to mention the light was intermittent and the temp guage would slam way to the right then slowly cool off a little, then go back to blazing hot )
- about an hour ago the thermostat was replaced

i went ahead and cranked it up to see if it would start overheating again but i got too nervous and turned it off after the temp guage went past the middle. i seriously believe it will start up overheating again but heres my question . . . . . . .

when i pop my radiator cap off should i immediately see coolant (meaning right under where the cap is) ? because right now all im seein is that brown gunk i guess since i use death-cool . . . sorry. . .. . . . i mean dex -cool.

or


...... is it ok if it appears empty ?, i mean that coolant drains down somewhere in the radiator where we cant see right? i know the gunk is another issue but i can only take it one step at a time on a sunday. thanks in advance guys

Pop radiator cap off should see coolant.maybe when thermostat was replaced radiator was not filled all the way up ?

ok this is what i would do is do a flush to get all the gunk out of the radiator and the engine. then fill it back up with prestone or some brand you like that is what you want to put back into it. before putting coolent back in i would replace the t-stat while every thing is out of the engine when you are doing every thing. if it is doing it again i would go after one of two things next water pump. before going further do you have the 3800???

sorry some of the 3800 have uper and lower lim gasket leak that causes the coolent to leak and disapear. it can cause it as well. i was sugesting the cheaper of the average things that will cause the problems before cracking in to the uper and lower lim gaskets.

you said you replaced the t-stat. did you put it in upside down? did you purge the air in the system?

Also,
Check the oil to make sure it's not a milkshake. If it is, then the upper and/or lower intake manifold gaskets need to be changed out. I'm fortunate to not have this happen to me yet, as the 3.4 engine is just as prone to having that happen as the 3.8 is, from what I've heard..

thats very possible . . . . should it have been? will i need to put a new t-stat in ?

thanks 07, ill read up on flushing and c if its something i can do in my garage, if not then ....sigh... hello meineke. so wait r u suggesting putting the t-stat first and then adding coolant? yes its a 3800. ill start pricing water pumps just to know what to expect.

thanks jimbo, i havent purged the air yet but ill actually give that a shot now. does the car need to be running? and thats the tiny screw on top of the housing right? and i did put the stat in correctly with a new gasket

if you have air in your system it can overheat like that. you should hear a gurgling noise sitting in the car when you turn your heat on too. that tells you you have air pockets.

top it off with some 50/50
run the engine
loosen or remove the brass bleeders
when only coolant is coming out, close them back up
repeat when it warms up and turn the heat on to purge the air trapped in there

it may take a few tries to get it all out