I have a 96' lumina 3.4L. Yesterday I drove it to run some errands everything was just fine even while stuck in traffic while it was 95 degrees out. Well this morning much cooler I get about 10 miles from home and the gauge goes from cool to over the red mark and proceeds bubble loudly. No heat comes from the vents on any setting and after spending a minute or so above the red line it returns to the middle of the gauge and then a little bit further down the road it returns to red line. When i stopped and turned the car off I opened the hood and looked in the reservoir it was full with dirty water (not oily or metal shavings) almost rusty which I attribute to the radiator and the 175000 miles. Also I have an electrical question recently the left turn signal blinks fast unless you click it just right. The middle brake light works but neither the left or right work and also the windshield wiper stopped working this all happened in the order of brake lights, turn signal then wipers. please help i have to drive over 100 miles in a couple days from now.

 

now the car is shaking while stopped in drive but doesnt shake when in park or reverse and the service engine light is blinking

 

probaly your water pump starting to let go or the thermostat../ for your brake light i had the same problem i couldnt put the turn signal too , it was only the turn signal arm, you need to remove the airbag , steering wheel ,air bag sensor, lock plate, anyways here a good Tuto:http://tss.likeabigdog.com/ you dont need a new one,, just take the old one apart clean it, if needed sand the coper conection and reassemble it like it was, mine work fine and brake like is good to

 

I hate to tell you this but it sounds to me like a head gasket, If yo take it to the auto parts house and have them run the codes, you'll find its misfiring. I know this because all your symptoms just happend to me about a month ago. As far as the turn signal, it's probably the switch. And the rest sounds like a fuse. Good luck.

 

not to hijack this thread but its about the same problem I have.
guage went to red. I killed the motor and drifted off the road.
gasket blew. had very little water in the oil.
well..... I tried the bluedevil stuff. AS far as i can tell it WORKED!!! no smoke . ran the car for a pretty good time(at idle to test) no leakes. no chocolate milk no missing. runs very nice.
BUT heres my problem which is what i think caused it the first time.
my radiator fan is not coming on when it should.
I turned on the AC and the secondary fan comes on.
So.. I switched the relays in the block and ac fan still works.
the temp gauge works.
is there a separate coolant switch for the fan?
(i havent looked under the car yet) can i just swap the plugs around to test the fans?
(
i did turn on the ac and heat to keep the car guage under 1/2 and while I did that the car drove great (about 20 minute drive)

 

I am not sure about your year but I have a 1998 Lumina, I had a problem with the intake gasket leaking. I think a lot of people think they have a bad head gasket (I did also) but it turns out to be the intake gasket. The parts store tells me that the 3.1 motor had a problem with the gasket (made of plastic). Mine would get hot and lose water but not in the oil. Hope this might help.

 

yea its a problem with the 3.1 and 3.4 motors most of the intake gaskets go bad, i replaced mines about a year ago. the bad gasket also cause unwanted pressure and cracked my radiator. as for the brake lights its more than likely your turn signal switch. mines was about 80$ at autozone, but you do have to remove the airbag and steering wheel ect...

 

My Lumina did the same thing. There was coolant in the oil, so it called for an overhaul. We replaced all the gaskets, from intake manifold up, new radiator, hoses, thermostat, coolant sensor, temperature gauge . . . everything. The temp gauge in the dash says it's still overheating. Lower radiator hose came off while we were driving home.

Fans refused to come on, so we wired them to a switch in the dash so we can operate them manually. We even got a fail open thermostat just in case, and it's still overheating. If you find out what's up with yours, let me know. We might have the same problem!

 

Any obstructions in front of the radiator?