Oldsmobile Intrigue Coolant System Problems

Our Intriques air was not working.We realized the radiator fans would not come on as the temp went up.Found out a $65.00 ground wire was lose.Saved us a $1,000 if had new air parts put.Make sure fans are coming on.
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Since your mechanic gave it a thorough look over, I would not be as concerned but would continue to monitor the situation.
Have you had your coolant changed recently?
That hose will leak after it has been removed. The barb connector has a large flare/barb at the end to keep the hose tight. The stupid spring clamp loses it spring after its been opened, especially if it was opened far enough to slide the clamp over the barb towards the engine instead of toward the tank.
The connector is about an 1 1/2 long with a metal internal piece for support. If the hose was not put back so that the barb meats the old bump inside the hose, then the hose will leak. Also have seen them were the hose fattens up at the end so the I.D. is larger over time.
Rotate and rock while you pull back on the hose, or you run the risk of cracking the connector at the tank. If you have bulging of the hose end, cut off a half inch of hose so that the barb has a new place to sit inside the hose and then install a proper screw tightening clamp. Or keep the old one there as well, the connector is long enough for two. Wetting the connector with coolant will help the hose slip on easier.
This takes maybe ten minutes, probably shorter than the time you will be on the phone fighting with the dealer. :P
cheers
dino
Refill directions are below
Good luck.
CF Newbie
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1
Vehicle Profile:
Year: 2001
Make: Oldsmobile
Model: INTRIGUE
Intrigue overheating problem solved!!
A little background: I have a 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue with a 3.5 engine the water pump started to leak so I change it ,flushed the coolant system added new coolant and thats when the problem of overheating started.Prior to the new water pump there was no problem. I have the GM service manual so I followed the instructions to add coolant exactly and all the burping procedures this did not solve the overheating problem. Based on previous posts I did not want to start changing the thermotate,radiator etc,etc because they did not solve the problem, I suspected an air bubble so I decided to monitor the situation for a while and continually checking the bleed valve, after one month of driving I found the following:
1: The engine did not heat up as long as the revs were 2,000 rpm plus
2: When the temperature did get near the red line simply stopping the car and reving the engine dropped the needle to the midrange instantly
3: I found that driving at rpm's below 2,000 caused the overheat spike and when the revs went up the temperature gage came down, infact I could drive the car without overheating by shifting gears on the automatic transmission thereby keeping the revs up, THIS CONVINCED ME IT MUST BE AN AIR BUBBLE IN THE SYSTEM.
THE FIX:
I started from square one again which a few changes to the filling procedure:
1: drained the coolant you will get approximately 5 litres out of the pee cock(don't forget to open the rad bleed valve)
2:disconnect the top rad hose from the engine.
3:I cut the top heater hose(near the fire wall) and installed a "y" flushing adapter inline
4:I also connected a drain hose to the engine outlet (where I disconnected the top rad hose) I did this so as to not make a mess.
5:I connected a garden hose to the "y" flushing adapter I also used a ball cock valve to control the water flow.
6:I kept the cap on the surge tank.
7:turn on the water and watch the surge tank the water will start to rise you will be able to contol the level by regulating the flow from the hose. Regulate the flow so the water in the surge tank is about 3/4 full and just let the hose run keeping an eye on it so it does not over flow. Now turn your attention to the engine outflow.
8:You will probably see the water coming out in spurts or bubbles WHEN IT COMES OUT IN A CONTINEUS FLOW ALL THE AIRS OUT, you need the hose pressure toget the air out the water pump just cannot do it! Thats why this is such a common problem for the DIY guy.
9:also run the water until it is clean so as to get the right coolant mixture.
FILLING:
10: you will need to get 4.75 litres of anti freeze in the system for 50/50 mixture which can be a challenge.
11:shut the water off but do not disconnect, with the rad bleed open and the rad peecock closed add coolant thru top rad hose until it comes out of the bleed valve, you will probably get about 3 1/4 liters in the rad. close the bleed valve(I made a tool to open and close the bleeder. I ground 4 driving slots in a socket so I could use a ratchet wrench )
12: I added the balance of the antifreeze to the surge tank NOTE!!! the top rad hose is not connected to the engine so as you added antifreeze it will push out water this is what you want you need to add about 1 1/2 litre this way, you are adding a total of 4.75 litres of antifreeze to the system. CONNECT THE TOP RAD HOSE. the level in the surge tank will be below the cold level proceed as follows:
13:The garden hose should still be connected to the "y" flush adapter slowly add water to the system and watch the surge tank level when the fluid level reaches the cold level shut the water off and disconnect the hose. Seal the "y" adapter with the plug that comes with it:
14:ALL DONE run the engine a few cycles to mix the coolant and drive, drive ,drive,problem free.
Dino
@ I have ever had to fix.
Good Luck
dino
Mike351: Thanks for sharing your ordeal. That will help a bunch of folks who are having overheating issues.
Dino
I have a 2000 Olds Intrigue with 164k miles and still running strong. If your son keeps up with the maintenance and is not afraid to get his hands dirty under the hood, he can easily get another 40k-50k miles.
As far as keeping up the Intrigue going, a lot of it has to do with educating yourself to the issues with this car and not being afraid to try to fix things yourself. I'm hardly a shadetree mechanic but I changed the ignitions switch about 3 months ago. Paid $100 for the part. would have costed about $400 at mechanic. The Intrigue is a nice vehicle but it does have 7 or 8 things that are almost guarenteed to go wrong during the life of the vehicle.
The thing that has really helped me is joining online forums like this where you have folks who are willing to share their knowledge.
Mine just started leaking in a BIG way.
Also, are there any gaskets that need to be replaced when replacing the water pump?
Thanks,
both websites sell parts cheaper than the dealer. Each has an easy to search database to view the parts. I would check rockaut.com first.
19168613 water pump kit (with gasket)
The total cost was about $95, though I had to pay a NC state sales tax. GM Parts Direct offers low prices but then gets you on the shipping. They are located near my house, so why are they charging me $15 to ship this thing!? Oh well, still a heck of a lot cheaper than getting it from a stealership.
13 bolts and 5 are long. I think.
water pump bolts to 124 inch lbs.
idler pulley bolt to 37 ft. lbs.
water pump pulley bolts to 106 inch lbs.
Added: old # has been has been replaced by a new part number
Drain the reservoir coolant and then remove the reservoir by (a) unscrewing the two bolts at the top of the shock mount, (b) disconnecting the hose near the thermostat, and (c) disconnecting the electrical sensor under the reservoir.
Now put a half-inch ratchet on the tensioner pulley and crank that bad boy over to release tension on the accessory belt (easiest to remove the belt from the top pulley). Be sure to note how the belt runs across the pulleys. Took me 45 minutes to put this back on because I couldn't remember the order it was in (should have taken a picture!).
You'll need to loosen the idler pulley and pull it out as far as you can (the bolt on mine was too long to completely remove it, but I only needed to get it out of the way) which will provide you enough space to remove some of the bolts on the water pump.
It is also easiest if you remove the 4 screws holding the water pump pulley on, which will also give you access to bolts for the water pump.
Now you just have to start taking the bolts off the water pump. There are a lot and you need to keep track in which holes the long bolts go and which ones have the shorter bolts.
Once you remove all of the bolts and pull the water pump off, you'll need to clean the engine block of any stuck-on gasket from the old water pump. A razor blade is best, but a flat head screwdriver would suffice.
Also, take a can of compressed air (like what you use to clean a computer keyboard) and blow out each of the bolt holes in case any gunk/debris fell in there upon removing the water pump.
The instructions said to put a little bit of gasket sealant on the new water pump gasket, so I used some RTV sealant for high-temperatures. It's probably meant for exhaust applications, but 200 degrees is pretty hot too.
I put some of the sealant on the new water pump, laid the new gasket on top, then put additional sealant on the new gasket (so the gasket now has sealant on both sides).
I put the new water pump and gasket on and then started threading all of the bolts.
Put the accessory belt back on, though now might be a good time to replace yours if necessary, and reinstall the coolant reservoir.
Go ahead and add some distilled water and Dex-Cool coolant to the reservoir and start the car with the cap OFF of the reservoir. Let the car get up to temperature and add more water/coolant as necessary. This should allow the system to burp out any air.
Finally, put the cap back on the reservoir and take it for a drive. Please note any low coolant lights on the instrument cluster or overheating. Since this is a closed system, it is probably important that the reservoir not be overfilled.
I see the part numbers listed by others for the gmpartsdirect site for the water pump. I needed to get a water pump and the thermostat for my 01 with the 3.5, however, gmpartsdirect doesn't have the thermostat, they only have the water pump. rockauto has both of the parts, any suggestions on which one I should get as they have three different brands of thermostat (none listed as oem) and 7 water pumps (bosch listed as oem). It looks like the cheaper water pumps may just not come with the pulley, but that would come off the old pump anyway correct? Is the OEM truly the same as what I would get from the dealer or gmpartsdirect? Just want to make sure that the parts I get are going to work for me.
So... Mike... would you say that I should not get any of them that are offered by Rockauto.com? I am not sure which brand was used factory, but the pictures of all three of them (thermostats) look identical and would assume that the thermostats would be teh same. (hoses included as well as solid case/thermostat piece). I love saving money when I can, but at the same time I dont' want to get a part that is going to not work properly either. Thanks in advance for the help.
Looking at Rockauto.com, all 3 of the thermostats are the same. I used the one from Stant. It's hard to see the ACDelco (which is the OEM) since it is more a sketching than a picture and it's at a different angle. Since mike251 and i are disagreeing, you can always call Rock Auto and ask them. I know of others from a different forum who have contacted Rock Auto about parts and have received excellent service. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can purchase it from a GM dealer.
Good luck. If you need any other help with this project, please post.