Can't figure out the problem

Blaine_Raymer
Sun, 22 Dec 2019 21:33:53 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

I have a 2001 chevy venture van. I cant figure out the problem.
Driving to work its cold as hell in my van so i know there is something wrong with the cooling system.
The next day my temp gauge was fluctuating tremendously (its -20 degrees celcius where i live right now). normally i let it warm up for about 8-10 minutes before driving it then it is warm fairly quickly. I checked my overflow reservoir because i new i had a small leak in either the hose leading to the rad or in the rad itself. But based on how little actually leaked out and in summer it stops leaking I wasn’t too worried about it. I tried throwing in some stop leak just for safe measures. I had to pull over while driving home because my thermostat gauge was skyrocketing super high an the van would take the accelerator away from me, keep in mind it overheated doing about 60km/h (37mph) down the road. I pulled over and looked at my overflow tank and all of the engines coolant was in there and when I opened it initially it started pouring the extra coolant on the ground. I thought it was odd but maybe i just put too much in and continued after draining some. Then it refused to do any faster than 60km/h and kept limping and taking my accelerator away. I ended up getting it home after a few hours of stop and go. I know its bad to drive with no coolant but it wasn’t worth towing.

Trying to figure out why there is no coolant being pumped either back into the rad then the engine or why its not just going back into the engine at all.

Sidenote, not the most intelligent when it comes to fixing cars.

10 posts - 6 participants