Hi, so pretty much I bought a 2000 Monte Carlo pace car edition 2 days ago. I bought it for $1200 so it has a few problems. My first problem is that my check engine light is on, and I noticed that there was a bad spark plug, so I figured the engine was misfiring because of that. Now to the problem of subject, I was driving the car around today, and the low coolent light came on ( mind you I just filled up the coolent yesterday) but the engine temp gauge said the engine was pretty cool. We stopped at a stop sign and I herd a bubbling noise coming from the engine bay. So I took it to my buddy's house and I found out the coolent was bubbling! My buddy said the thermostat was closed shut and no coolent was getting into the engine. So I'm here to ask, is that what the problem is? And how do I fix it? Please help because I really want to restore this car to it's former glory. All help is greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum first of all. All of your check engine lights are off now? It would be strange that the car is presumably overheating and the car is running cool. I would guess the temperature sensor is bad, the gauge in the dash is bad, you weren't driving long enough and it's was cool, ect.

How do you know the coolant is bubbling? where was the sound coming from? Was it actually low on coolant? An improper coolant bleed/flush can cause air to be in the system. This can cause a 'bubbling' sound from the dash where the heater core is located. This can also cause overheating.

A stuck t-stat wouldn't necessarily cause the engine 'to get no coolant' but would impede the circulation of coolant - from the radiator thru the lower radiator hose to the engine to the upper radiator hose back to the radiator where it started and the t-stat is a stopping plug of sorts in between the engine and the upper radiator hose. After the engine is warmed up, the t-stat should be fully opened allowing coolant to flow freely through the system.

 

These cars are also notorious for the coolant level sensor to go bad. It's located right below the radiator cap, and isn't bad to replace. You can also just unplug it if you want to check levels manually.

 

When it is getting hot the Fans will usually kick in by the Radiator and you will hear them Roaring?
It's probably a good idea to replace the thermostat and do a radiator flush and also while doing this replace the Radiator hoses also. upper and lower.
sometimes the check engine light can show up when the Gas cap is not tight or sealing properly.
Most of the repairs like these can be found in a youtube video, I usually google it and see what comes up.
But there are a bunch of them about the Monte Carlo repairs and they are detailed also. Hope that helps.

 

The FIRST thing to do is find-out WHY the Engine Light is on!

Go to AutoZone and borrow their Code Reader:
• Read Codes
• Write down what Codes are showing / Post results.

• Inspect Oil Fill Cap and L@@k around inside the Cover while you have the Cap out.
Accumulation of ugly-looking gook on the cap and the area indicates Oil contaminated with Coolent.

• Go get one of these IR Thermometer's. Find-out what temperature the plant is running at!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/HDE-High-...&wl13=&veh=sem

• AutoZone has a Cooling System Pressure Tester.
Do a pressure test!

• If that buggie has a stock Water Pump ... be prepared to replace it.

 

the coolent was bubbling from the Reservoir it was very confusing. My upper radiator hose also had no pressure in it.

 

So you did get the check engine light off or is it still on? You'll need to do some testing as the previous posts indicated - there usually isn't a definite [it is this for sure] answer without testing.

A few things to note: it is an old car and you don't know the repairs/maintenance done to it so it's usually a good idea to do full maintenance when you get the car - things like new spark plugs/wires, coolant flush, oil, pcv, clean maf/throttle body, new t-stat (w/flush), maybe waterpump, ect.

 

The engine light is still on, but it's a misfire because there's a bad spark plug I already checked that. I haven't driven it since I noticed the coolent bubbling, but this is my first car and I realized after I put coolent in the Reservoir that I didn't know you had to bleed coolent through the system. So I think that might be the problem.