last coolant flush was with the new water pump, best guess about mid january. it was reasonably clean, previous owner had to do intake manifold gasets, now it'* brownish like snapple diet iced tea - with a few floaters in the overflow.

i'm sure the fresh coolant knocked some debris free from the inside of the system, i am going to have another coolant flush done - hopefully tomorrow - just because it looks like crap, and it will be one extra measure of security.

To answer this question, the A/C is less effective when the condenser reaches a higher temperature (since its right next to the radiator), so it won't be able to effectively cool the refrigerant. That'* perfectly normal as well. You will always have better A/C performance while moving than you will when your car is standing still.

As I said in my previous post, there'* something wrong if your needle is pegged that high. Replace the thermostat and go from there. Get another 180 t-stat. I've noticed the 3800'* respond well to that.

Not a bad idea if the color is brown. I know for a fact it shouldn't be like that.

fans were on.

NO coolant leaks, none that i can visually see, none that i can smell, the thermostat is new - and, seems to work right. always pokes up to the 180* within a minute or so of run time, and doesn't get hotter until it'* reasonably heat soaked.. (example.. been driving a while, then stuck in traffic)

i'm quite sure there were air bubbles in the system, i did bleed it at the bleeder screw, it did fart out what looked to me like an air pocket - and it hasn''t hit the same high mark since.

that was yesterday.

today, it was fine allll day - until about 3, when i went to the coffee shop drive thru - and it went to about 235* - dropped back to about 210* when i drove away.

fans seem to be on/ off appropriately, always with the a/c - and when it becomes warmer than usual - i do hear the high speed fan kick on.

......so - with air in the system being the culprit - (I had this same problem in colder weather, lets say - March - winter in new england) and bleeding made it run cooler exactly the same way. where is this air coming from, and could there still be air in the system NOW, from a January coolant flush?



... my question is essentially answered - that the cars are allowed to run 'safely' up to about 230* max in extreme heat...

also, for the most part - in fair weather, the car stays at 180* solid on the highway, may perk up to 205* if i have to stop.. last night i drove around with the lady for a couple hours, ouside temp was about 74* - a/c was on low, and the car never went above 180*

when the outside air temp goes into the low 90'*, the car hits the 230'*.

To answer your first post, if you let the air bubble out of the system, then that was your problem to start. The 235 degree F temperature is also normal. That'* when the primary fan kicks on. It is perfectly safe for your car to do this. If you're not comfortable with it though (and I wouldn't be for a variety of reasons), you could have someone tune the PCM to have the primary fan kick on at a lower temperature, say at 210F, or you could wire it up so you could flip on the fan with a switch.

To answer your second post, it is possible that the air was in the system from March. This problem wouldn't have displayed itself so prominently until the outside temperatures increased to where the cooling system would be more heavily taxed like it is now.

However, it is just as likely that you may have a small coolant leak. When your car warms up, it creates pressure in the system. As it cools down, it creates negative pressure and pulls air back in from the overflow tank. If you have even a leak in the hose from the radiator neck and the overflow tank, it could suck in air instead of coolant. Let me give you an example of what happened to my 95 Regal. This was in California in 90 degree weather. I had a very small coolant leak coming from the throttle body passages in the upper intake manifold. You wouldn't have this problem as I believe your engine is supercharged. This coolant leak would only happen as the engine was warming up, and would drip down along the lower intake manifold right next to the exhaust crossover pipe, underneath the throttle body. I didn't notice this at all because it always dried up very quickly, until I saw the green stain on the side of the lower intake manifold. My car consistently had air bubbles in the cooling system and used a very small amount of coolant every week, causing it to overheat. This is just to give you an example of how easy it is to miss a coolant leak.

I'm going to bet on you having an air bubble, and that the people who previously did the flush didn't bleed the air bubbles properly. Keep an eye on your temperatures for a while, and try to see if there'* any air to bleed every week.

see not trying to be ''that guy'' buutt.. my 2000 lumina with the 3100 sfi wait never mind it didnt shut down at high temps but when the coolant was low it would shut down nevermind lol

i was told by someone who knows stuff that the car would die if it hit 260* temperature, that'* all. perhaps he was confused, or perhaps he was right?