Pontiac Repair: 96 pontiac sunfire, combustion gases, head gasket

Question
Hi, My 96' pontiac sunfire will not run at normal temp. when a thermostat is in it, if you put a hollowed out one in it, it will run fine, but no heat. I have changed the water pump, the hoses, and the head gasket, i was just wondering if you had any other suggestions on what it could be, thanks!

amanda

Answer
Hey Amanada:

What engine does this have? when you say it will not run at normal temp. I assume it's running too hot? What was the root cause of this issue head gasket blew and over heated water pump went bad and ran low on coolant and over heated? again going on the assumption of it running hot does the cooling fan turn on and run? If is does run do you feel it removing the heat when it's on and running? does this car have A/C? I have seen cars with a lot of milage run hot because a lot of dirt and debris polin from trees etc gets stuck inbetween the a/c condenser and the readiator cauing the air flow to decrease across the radiator. You may still have a issue with a cylinder head that may have warped from overheating and it's leaking combustion gases into the cooling system making it run hot. You may have a big air pocket in the colling system after the repairs the 2.2 Liter engine is notorious for this they are really hard to "burp" the air out of them. When it runs hot do you have really good heat from the heater if so then an air pocket is not the issue. These are just a few things to check.. Good luck :)