95 quad 4 cooling system bleed info needed

[indygrandam]

I was searching but never found detailed instructions on bleeding the cooling sytem on a 95 grand am with the quad 4 4cyl. Is there a valve to open or some trick i should know?

[skibum1111]

It's a fairly easy system to bleed, but it is somewhat time consuming. Make sure you have enough gas for the car to idle for a while. Remove the pressure cap from the overflow tank, start the car and let it idle until the cooling fan comes on. Make sure the blower motor is on its lowest setting (if you leave the blower on high with the heat all the way up the cooling fan will never come on). It should take around 30 minutes or so for the fan to come on with the hood open. Observe the level in the overflow tank, make sure when you filled it you didin't overfill it as coolant will come out of the tank when it warms up if its too full. Make sure the level doesn't get too low, add coolant to the tank as necessary. Once the fan has cycled on and off shut the car off and put the pressure cap back on. Good luck, just be patient.

[indygrandam]

Ok heres the update...completely drained and rinsed the cooling system.All i can say is wow that was some nasty chunky looking stuff that flowed out .Refilled cooling system and purged for air like instructed and all seems fine but the fan dont kick in till like 230ish then cuts off at about 190--200ish.Is this how long the fan usually runs? or should it cool it down more before shutting off?

If anyone could post a pic of their temp guage at what they call "normal operating temp" it would be greatly appreciated.
Also i was wondering if the same temp controll that controls the guage is the same one that controls the fan?


Thanks in advance for all the help

[skibum1111]

Normal running temp on mine while driving was around the first mark on the gauge. Fans kick on around 220, turn off around 190 or so. Quads give off lots of heat, but they do cool quickly.

[xeroinfinity]

230 is when the fan comes on and around 200 it will shut the off.
As most cars with a 195 deg thermostat will run about 200 deg.
If you have a 185 deg thermostat then it will run about 5 deg hotter.

Though this all depends on how well the cooling system is working.
Yours should be fine from the indications you gave.

[indygrandam]

Cool thanks guys .I guess mine is now running normal.
Went for a drive tonight and it runs about just past the first mark and goes about 200 when stopped at light for a bit.I bought the car off a guy who was told the head was cracked and needed replaced and for 1500 bucks he said no way and i bought it for 50 bucks thinking it needed a new head.After i got it i checked it out really good and found the thermostat housing at the top was cracked and also a line that goes to the heater core had a pin hole in it.
So all in all i have about 100 bucks including parts and now it seems i have a pretty decent ride for 100 bucks...



so here it is..

http://123pichosting.com/images/5931newcar2.JPG

[skibum1111]

Looks pretty good to me. The best cars are the ones you can get really cheap and put minimal money and time into and drive them for a few years.

[indygrandam]

UPDATE**

drove car a few days and the problem returned again.So i decided to pull the water pump and have a look..this is what i found....







If you look you can see real bad erosion of the blade tips.Never leaked or make a sound just did not circulate enough coolant at normal driving speeds.I also want to add that changing this is a PIA but worth it if you have cooling problems.Also i wounder if it was the dexcool that eroded the blades like that.Did some reading on dexcool and found only negative stuff about it.

[xeroinfinity]

If you look you can see real bad erosion of the blade tips.Never leaked or make a sound just did not circulate enough coolant at normal driving speeds.I also want to add that changing this is a PIA but worth it if you have cooling problems.Also i wounder if it was the dexcool that eroded the blades like that.Did some reading on dexcool and found only negative stuff about it

Because it is such a pita that could have been in thier for several years, if its not the original.