QuestionMy Lumina started overheating. First major problem: The fan no longer comes on to cool the engine. My son's friend tried new relays--didn't help. Thermostat? The heater blows hot and cold. A/C stopped working earlier this Spring, for no apparent reason. Second major problem: antifreeze leak. Started small, is now MAJOR, massive leak outsize (not inside the car) on driver's side, near the housing for the thermostat. Hoses don't appear to be cracked. Water pump? Have kept driving to a minimum, fill constantly, heat gauge has never hit red. Heat gauge moves from hot to medium--never steady. Third major problem: car just started lurching/hesitating as it progressed through the gears (automatic. Transmission? Had trans. flushed 9 months ago. Fourth major problem: car is difficult to start,sudddenly. Catches, then dies, several times before it stays on. No white smoke from the muffler, no smoke anywhere. Wish I could afford to take it to a local mechanic, but few are honest with a single, middle-aged women. They could tell me anything and I wouldn't know if they were correct. (Or honest.) Do you have any ballpark questimates on what the problems might be? I'll take any help you can give! (Nothing like trying to diagnose long distance!)
AnswerOuch Bev,
A blown head gasket could cause several of those problems, but lets hope for something less.
The water pump should leak from a hole behind the belt pulley. But there are gaskets for it, as well as the thermostat housing.
You could rig the fan to run all the time the engine is on. That is assuming the fan is good. It can be checked by running jumper wires from the battery to the fan wires.
There is a sensor that should tell the ecm to operate the fan.
The lurching etc could be a dirty fuel filter or injectors, which could also cause the hard start. Plugs could do the same.
The lack of smoke kinda points away from a blown head gasket.
Good luck...hope some help here.
Van
