Pontiac Repair: Heating system issue, crank case, stressed conditions

Question
Hi Todd.

My cooling/heating system isn't working properly.  Before my heater will kick in, the car has to almost overheat.  Once the gauge gets to a certain point (this happens in about five minutes or so of driving)the heat will kick in and the gauge will go back down to normal.  Also, the engine temperature won't stay regulated in stressed conditions (sitting in traffic or during a long trip.)  This happened before after some repair work to the fan and it simply had to be bled. Could air somehow have gotten into it again?

Answer
Hi there:

I think the sytem is low on coolant again. That would cause both issues you have with the tmep erratic on the gauge and the heater not working. Ther has to be a leak in the system somewhere. Either external onto the ground or internal the engine is burning it or into the crank case. You couls have cause damage to the engine by overheating it the first time when it had a cooling fan issue.. either way it needs to be addressed before it does some serious damage to the engine.