Originally Posted by cepx111

Okay, more info on getting out trapped in a quad 4....

Method#1
You should remove the heater hose from the water neck. This will be a high point in the system. Fill your tank until fluid comes out from the hose. Reinstall and complete filling.

Start the car and run with the radiator cap removed. Top off as needed. Before the engine heats up too much, replace the cap. Check for leaks. After system has cooled, check your fluid level.
Method#2
My procedure involves "burping" the upper radiator hose by starting nearest the engine and "walking" a depression (and leading this depression by the raised section which may have air trapped in it) along the hose until I get to the radiator. This helps to force any air bubble towards the radiator where it can escape and then be replaced by coolant. Do this SEVERAL times -- with the radiator cap off -- until you no longer hear burps of air.

I have had good luck with this method.

Just a thought here...


If you have access to an temp gun, check the temperature of the heater core hose coming out of the firewall to the pipe on the back of the block. If it doesn't get hot enough to open the thermostat (above 180) your heater core is at least partially plugged. The way this cooling system is set up, the thermostat receives coolant flow only through the heater core until the thermostat opens. If there is not enough flow there, the thermostat may only open erratically when the rpms cause enough fluid pressure to overcome the blockage. This is a big cause of blown headgaskets on the 2.3's that have the thermostat on the back of the engine (and the 2.4) I've dealt with this problem a few times.

If you don't have access to a temp gun, you can disconnect the heater core and bypass it to make sure there is enough coolant flow. If this fixes the problem, change the heater core. (It's not a bad job.) Just make sure you use a hose with a bend in it, or two hoses and an elbow so it doesn't kink. You want to run the hose from the water outlet on the end of the head to the metal pipe on the back of the block.

In closing....

After reading all the horror stories associated with this troublesome little engine... I dont know WHY ANYBODY would have one, that is unless your stuck with it.
My sister bought a brand new grand am a few years back, 58,000 W/P goes out, mind you the pump was over $300, plus $300 in labor to put it in, and yeah it was out of warranty.
From day one she had nothing but trouble out of that car.
She practically gave it away a year two later, after replacing the W/P, again.

JMO and a few others> Cp