09 2.2 NO FAN- Overheating
#21
Recently my HHR started being much hotter than usual. It has been two years or so since I had the cooling system even looked at. At that time I had it flushed and new antifreeze put in.
Back when we bought it the previous owners had had it flushed and regular green antifreeze installed when I had it done they put Dexcool back in. I was not aware of that.
When it got so hot I Daned to look at it and saw I had Dexcool in it again and it was lumpy, so and added about a gallon of water. Since I was not at home I took it to a local Chevy garage and they did a system flush and put green antifreeze in it again for me. I checked the color of the coolant to make sure they had done this change for me before I left.
I do not like Dexcool very much. Mainly because it will become lumpy and not do its job very well. I've always used regular glycol based antifreeze in all my cars and have had my problems with leaks and such but the green stuff has never gotten lumpy like Dexcool does for me.
Back when we bought it the previous owners had had it flushed and regular green antifreeze installed when I had it done they put Dexcool back in. I was not aware of that.
When it got so hot I Daned to look at it and saw I had Dexcool in it again and it was lumpy, so and added about a gallon of water. Since I was not at home I took it to a local Chevy garage and they did a system flush and put green antifreeze in it again for me. I checked the color of the coolant to make sure they had done this change for me before I left.
I do not like Dexcool very much. Mainly because it will become lumpy and not do its job very well. I've always used regular glycol based antifreeze in all my cars and have had my problems with leaks and such but the green stuff has never gotten lumpy like Dexcool does for me.
#22
That's the main reason I had it done instead of doing it myself. I probably could have driven it home and used my Prestone flush kit but I wanted to be totally sure all the clumped Dexcool was out.
I'm pretty sure since they were an actual Chevy dealer that they did a better job than I would have at home.
I'm pretty sure since they were an actual Chevy dealer that they did a better job than I would have at home.
#23
Thats really awkward. With the way the ECM controls the fan to reduce engine temp, I find the tolerance to be substandard for a balance of numbers. Its almost like a setup from the factory.
Anyhow, do you have a suggestion on the inspection for clumpy coolant? I'm going to assume it wont end up in the reserve.....
Anyhow, do you have a suggestion on the inspection for clumpy coolant? I'm going to assume it wont end up in the reserve.....
If you look real good in the reservoir, assuming the pressure cap is doing thing right you'll see it. Or look under the pressure cap.
The reason people don't like DexCool is because they don't understand it. It is in there because it tends to seal small imperfections that appear when the engine gets hot. The green stuff works in a different way, however they say the yellow stuff will work in an EcoTec engine. Even the "green" bottle says something about uses in Aluminum. I know that nobodies mind can be changed, but the Saab engineers had their reasons.
Does anyone remember the great anti freeze class action suits of yore? The Green stuff ones, anyway put a huge company out of business (can you remember the name?). The stuff did not know when to stop sealing and the radiator cores got blocked. The Orange stuff suits turned out to be the engines were not built right.
Anyway the green is a different type of chemical than the orange. They do their jobs in different ways. My suggestion is if you really have a problem with DexCool use the Yellow Long Life (usually a red cap) stuff instead, avoid the green. But then I'm of Irish Protestant heritage.
#24
Okay~
She returned today, and said she noticed no puddles or smelt anything odd at work today. She said the car never got over 175 degrees and I checked her reservoir when she got home. It was at halfway when warm. I'm keeping an eye on it daily to see if it drops at all.
Weird...
She returned today, and said she noticed no puddles or smelt anything odd at work today. She said the car never got over 175 degrees and I checked her reservoir when she got home. It was at halfway when warm. I'm keeping an eye on it daily to see if it drops at all.
Weird...
#25
One of the key observations is if the reservoir level increased when engine at operating temp, then goes back down to the same "cold" level. This is checking the pressure cap, they do go bad and do cause badly diagnosed problems. Also check the upper radiator hose after cool down, if it collapses there is a whole different set of problems.
#26
When all of this started there was EG with conventional additives that plated surfaces and reduced cavitation erosion in the water pump. This was usually green. Plating reduced heat transfer, but protected surfaces left uncovered by low coolant level.
There was extended life antifreeze too, which was EG with carboxylate-based rust inhibitors. My understanding is that water pumps had to be re-designed. Since these don't plate surfaces, there is no protection for surfaces left uncovered by low coolant level.
EG is poisonous, but is 100% biodegradable to carbon dioxide and water.
There are hybrid chemistry EG coolants as well.
Colors are all over the place.
DEX-COOL is EG with carboxylate-based rust inhibitors and an orange dye.
Since DEX-COOL and what we refer to as "conventional green" are both EG, they are about equally poisonous.
l have only good to say about DEX-COOL. The silicate deposits with conventional additives are totally absent. I've seen aluminum, brass, cast iron, and steel from heavy duty engines come out essentially free of pitting and corrosion after 400,000 miles. Radiator tubes clean as a whistle.
Last edited by blacky; 08-18-2013 at 02:17 PM.
#27
No 2.4 l stuff./
Earlier I mentioned my own experience with consumption of coolant. There was a response to the effect that that was a problem. I showed that it was not. The 2.4 l engine only came in because that's what I drive. Making up a pint in 15,000 mi over a year is very little, regardless of 2.2 l or 2.4 l. I am sure that much water could evaporate from the overflow reservoir, which is located in a hot place.
#28
One of the key observations is if the reservoir level increased when engine at operating temp, then goes back down to the same "cold" level. This is checking the pressure cap, they do go bad and do cause badly diagnosed problems. Also check the upper radiator hose after cool down, if it collapses there is a whole different set of problems.
#29
One thing I found on my 2008 was that the weep hole on the water pump is in a pocket on the top side of the pump. Pure genius there. But what happens is when the pump starts weeping the DexCool starts trying to plug the leak but it's in a pocket so the pocket fills with the "clumped" DexCool which is also evaporating and you never notice that you have a bad pump, or low coolant if you don't monitor it. Was that a run on sentence, or what?