Melissa82

Greetings! I hope you can help a newbie out.

Vehicle: 2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Vin4 2.2 Gas Engine with ~190,000mi. It has not had DexCool in it for a long time. I'm not really sure when or who did it originally. But its got the green stuff now. Its name is Car, and I love it to bits. I purchased it from Hertz with 22k miles on it in 2003. Its been a wonderful car with very few issues until now. I would love to keep it running as long as possible, but am also to the point where I cannot keep putting large sums money into it. All repair work will be done by me from now on.

Owner: Very little mechanic practice. I can change a tire, check fluids, read auto mechanics for dummies, and recently replaced my thermostat. Im also female, have little upper body strength, and a bit of left/right dyslexia. But I can follow directions.

New Parts: Radiator (1 month by Firestone), Radiator Cap 15psi (1 month by me), Thermostat 180 (3 months by me). Everything else is original (in cooling system).

Symptoms: Slightly overheats (1-2 ticks over 195). Old and new radiator cap is hard to put on and take off. Gushing, watery noise, sometimes (usually when heater core is open, heat set to red, no fan), when accelerating or going up a very steep hill. It sounds like a large rain stick. Leaks radiator fluid from radiator overflow tank overflow hose, even with cap off. This must be the dumbest idea ever, I had no idea I was leaking poison by design. Return hose from radiator does not feel like there is any fluid in it, its just warm (150), after it meets return from the heater, the metal pipe is very hot (reads "Hi" on my thermometer, so over 250). Once thermostat opens, the temperature going to the radiator only goes up to about 120, from about 70 (Should it also be 180?). Bleeder Screw on small metal pipe, is seized, gone, jammed. This is my fault. When I tried to loosen it to bleed the air, it just peeled right off. I got a new screw from a junk yard. My husband tried to drill out the part that was still in there, and the drill bit broke off inside the remaining screw part. Water does come from the muffler, from a hole/rot (newly discovered) in the front of it mostly, and some from the tail pipe. I thought this was normal (the water not the rot), as I have always seen it. But some say its a sign of HG failure.

Non Symptoms, Good Things: Heater works great, no fluid in carpet. Oil is not white. No smoke from exhaust. No explosive splashes when revving with the overflow cap off. There is steam from the overflow tank with cap off when it heats up, but it smells like coolant, not exhaust. No oil in coolant. Gas mileage is good/normal.

Most Recent Diagnosis from Firestone: Cracked HG. They said "tested everything else", so it had to be the HG, and also that it caused the crack in my radiator (that had been there for 2 years). They said it ran into the red on the interstate and splashed everywhere with the cap off (I cannot recreate either of these things). I decided not to have it repaired ($1400-$1900), and just to drive it until failure. I was also not very happy that they put a brand new radiator in (a car with a cracked HG), saying that would certainly fix my issue (yes they said that with 100% certainty), when it did not. When checking my coolant level the next day (I have to open the cap because I can no longer see through the tank), the cap would not go back on. Bought another, went on like butter, and it ran normally for 3 weeks. Now its slightly overheating again, and the new cap is hard to get on and off too.

Previous Diagnosis: Leaking Radiator (Firestone), which I had fixed with that stop leak stuff (yah yah I know I know), but it held for a year. Working as intended (Chevy Dealership). They said as long as its under 235 its within normal operating range. Uh... ok? Thermostat Failure (Me), it was not opening. I replaced it. There was an old fabric gasket that was disintegrated, the new one did not come with it, I installed without the fabric.

I have heard of HG Denial. And I know it is a possibility. But I don't want to pay $1400 for them just to find out. That seems crazy to me. If it is definitely the HG, I would put some stop HG leak because it must be the tiniest of cracks (ya ya....) and drive it until its done. But if I can try a few cheaper things first, I would be very happy.

My thoughts. Since the radiator overflow caps keep getting harder to put on, and it leaks from the overflow hose, maybe I just need a new radiator overflow tank? Just keep replacing caps? Maybe the bad cap and the slight overheating or air in the system damaged the new thermostat, or maybe it did need that fabric gasket, maybe I just need to replace that again. And maybe I just need to find a way to burp it. There is definitely some air in there since I can hear the gurgling sound. But I cannot burp it to save my life. I've tried up hill, down hill, sideways, driving, revving, begging, but no air ever comes out. I can buy that part with the bleed screw on it, but its a bit pricey and looks like a nightmare to replace. If it is likely to be one or more of these things I will obviously want to do them at the same time to avoid multiple drains.

Other questions. Is there a cleaner way to drain the system. Last time I just took the thermostat housing off and let it drain from there (mostly) into a pan. What is the best way to fill the system? Should I put DexCool back in it, and if so does it need a flush, and how does one do that? Am I in denial? What would you recommend? I hope you can understand why I don't want to go back to Firestone or the Dealership anymore. But if anyone knows a great mechanic in or near Roanoke, VA. I would consider getting a second opinion.

Thanks so much for reading, and for any assistance provided.