The temperature gauge on my 2000 Chevy Malibu LS (3.1L V6)started going up very high, and sometimes into the red and the light would come on. However, the car is DEFINITELY NOT OVERHEATING. It has gotten to the point where the gauge is always at 75% or so, and goes up into the red and back down as I drive. Occasionally when this happens, the car will just shut off, however turns right back on. In addition:
- No heat will come out of the vents
- I am loosing coolant somehow. It's not leaking out of the tank, but some of the hoses have a sticky film on them.
- There is a beige color sludge-like goo in the coolant tank.
I don't have a lot of money and everyone I talk to tells me the problem is something different. I need to get this repaired but I need to know what needs repairing and how much it should cost. If you need any other information please just ask, and I can also show you pictures of inside the coolant tank and the location of the hoses that have the film on them.
Thank you so much in advance,
Jeff
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Was thinking an oil cooler, but don't remember if yours has one. Wanted to make sure you didn't have it in your engine oil, or there will be more problems. Is there hoses or lines going into each side of the radiator? It does have one.
One set will go to the oil cooler, probably where the oil is getting into the coolant, it uses coolant to help cool the oil, and if it ruptures, well that's it.
The oil is a normal brown color. Yes, I need an oil change, but it's normal.
Was thinking an oil cooler, but don't remember if yours has one. Wanted to make sure you didn't have it in your engine oil, or there will be more problems. Is there hoses or lines going into each side of the radiator? It does have one.
I don't know if it's the radiator, but there are hoses going to both sides of the front end.
One set will go to the oil cooler, probably where the oil is getting into the coolant, it uses coolant to help cool the oil, and if it ruptures, well that's it.