Chevrolet: 2000 cavalier over heating, afew minutes, red tank

Question
with in just afew minutes after starting it over heats a light came on with a red tank and and arrow pointing down
put coolent in nothing the fan runs, the first time it did it we were driving and the temp gauge just kept going up and down now it just over heats instantly is it the thermostat.where is that located in this car 4 cyl

Answer
Could be the thermostat or could be that their is an air pocket in your cooling system.

You didn't say if you had the 2.2L or the 2.4L engine.

On the 2.4L engine it's hard to get to, but if you look at the front of the engine it is beneath the intake manifold (2.4). It is right on the block, and if you don't like tight places, it's not the job for you. It is right on the front of the block, above your oil filter etc.

If that doesn't fix it, it could also be a bad waterpump or the rad fans aren't coming on.