1999 Malibu 2.4l Water Not Circulating
November 28th, 2017, 12:09 PM
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1999 Malibu 2.4l Water Not Circulating
I recently had a problem where water was spraying out from somewhere at the point the water leaves the engine. I did not let it get hot and I shut it off. Much of the water was gone, so to diagnose the problem, I removed all of the stuff blocking the hose where the water leaves the engine, then refilled the reservoir. After running the engine for quite a while, water never circulates out the exit hose, I can squeeze it and feel nothing, I shut it all down before the temp gauge got too hot. The reservoir is full and there is water in the lower hose feeding the engine water. When I turn on the heater, I get hot air.
I was told that once you allow air into the system, you need to bleed it out or you will not get proper circulation, if that is the case is there a port or something on the 2.4l model to allow you to do this. I have seen videos on the 6 cyl model, but none on the 4.
Could the thermostat have gone kapoot on me?
I was told that once you allow air into the system, you need to bleed it out or you will not get proper circulation, if that is the case is there a port or something on the 2.4l model to allow you to do this. I have seen videos on the 6 cyl model, but none on the 4.
Could the thermostat have gone kapoot on me?
November 28th, 2017, 2:40 PM
#2
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Did it ever get to operating temperature? The thermostat only opens and allows flow after the engine reaches the correct operating temp. Yes it is possible that the thermostat is bad, but it is a cheap and easy fix on most cars.
November 28th, 2017, 2:43 PM
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Seems like it has
It seems like it has reached operating temperature, the needle is about 1/2 way, it ran for some time about 10 minutes. I didn't want to jump in and replace the thermostat because everyone says on this car it is difficult. A lot of people mentioned bleeding the air from the cooling system. I just don't know how.
November 28th, 2017, 4:10 PM
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If it's up to operating temp, no flow through the top hose back to radiator, the only thing that would stop it is the thermostat. My issue with a 3.1 v6 was the thermostat failed open (something you need to consider if you have to replace it), I had no heat since the thermostat was open all the time. I got tired of "hoping to hit a red light" as to get "some" heat from it. Royal pain on this engine, yes, I am sure yours is the same. As far as bleeding the air, yes, but even after time the air will bleed out. Leave the radiator cap on "loose", run the engine using cation not to overheat it. Also on the thermostat housing see if it has a bleed valve on it.