Does turning the heat on heat up your engine?
11-29-2018, 10:33 AM
#1
Does turning the heat on heat up your engine? 1998 WS6 TransAm A4 ~80,000 miles
Because I always thought it was the opposite. I thought heat came partially FROM your engine, helping to COOL it? I live in Florida, and the last few nights have dropped in to the 40s (which is awesome, I hate this boring hot state), but first thing in the morning going to work at 4AM, I turned the heater on. I barely drove the car for 4 minutes before I was at the second to last notch on the temperature gauge. This shocked the **** out of me for 3 reasons:
1. I live in Florida and it has never gone above the 210 mark even in 106F weather, so why would it jump way past the 210 mark in 40F weather in four minutes?
2. My second scare was maybe the oil pressure, because the first sign my V6 gave me the oil pump was going bad was elevated temperatures. But my pressure seemed just fine?
3. When I drove it home from work, it was about 60F outside, I didn't have the heater on, and the car ran normal temperature, hovering right below 210 again.
What the hell? lol
Because I always thought it was the opposite. I thought heat came partially FROM your engine, helping to COOL it? I live in Florida, and the last few nights have dropped in to the 40s (which is awesome, I hate this boring hot state), but first thing in the morning going to work at 4AM, I turned the heater on. I barely drove the car for 4 minutes before I was at the second to last notch on the temperature gauge. This shocked the **** out of me for 3 reasons:
1. I live in Florida and it has never gone above the 210 mark even in 106F weather, so why would it jump way past the 210 mark in 40F weather in four minutes?
2. My second scare was maybe the oil pressure, because the first sign my V6 gave me the oil pump was going bad was elevated temperatures. But my pressure seemed just fine?
3. When I drove it home from work, it was about 60F outside, I didn't have the heater on, and the car ran normal temperature, hovering right below 210 again.
What the hell? lol
11-29-2018, 01:50 PM
#4
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You had it right in the first place....it's the opposite. As mentioned above, the heater core is like a mini-radiator so blowing air (HVAC fan) across it removes heat from the coolant and sends it into the interior. When was the last time you ran the heater? And have you done any cooling system work since then?
11-29-2018, 02:16 PM
#5
You had it right in the first place....it's the opposite. As mentioned above, the heater core is like a mini-radiator so blowing air (HVAC fan) across it removes heat from the coolant and sends it into the interior. When was the last time you ran the heater? And have you done any cooling system work since then?
11-29-2018, 02:44 PM
#6
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11-29-2018, 08:09 PM
#7
I threw some distilled water in it and it ran cool for a half hour, no problems at all. I'll be getting the flush tomorrow morning.
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11-30-2018, 01:57 AM
#8
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It is DEFINITELY the cooling system. It was bone dry. WHAT THE ****? Like a month ago it was clean and full. I took my car in to Tires Plus to flush my rear end and they recommended a coolant flush. Ever since I got the car back it's been overheating. Did those ******** drain my radiator to get money from me? I am so pissed. I'm going to get a flush, but it is NOT going to be with them.
I threw some distilled water in it and it ran cool for a half hour, no problems at all. I'll be getting the flush tomorrow morning.
I threw some distilled water in it and it ran cool for a half hour, no problems at all. I'll be getting the flush tomorrow morning.
As you have a '98, you should have seen a low coolant warning light (unless you or someone else has previously unplugged the sensor - then tend to fail, illuminating when they shouldn't, so folks sometimes just leave them unplugged as doing so causes the light to default to "off").
11-30-2018, 06:52 AM
#9
What do you mean by "bone dry"? Do you mean the radiator itself was complete empty of fluid, or just the overflow bottle/dipstick? If the radiator was completely empty, I doubt it's been that way for very long. A month of normal driving with no coolant would have surely resulted in serious issues long before now.
As you have a '98, you should have seen a low coolant warning light (unless you or someone else has previously unplugged the sensor - then tend to fail, illuminating when they shouldn't, so folks sometimes just leave them unplugged as doing so causes the light to default to "off").
As you have a '98, you should have seen a low coolant warning light (unless you or someone else has previously unplugged the sensor - then tend to fail, illuminating when they shouldn't, so folks sometimes just leave them unplugged as doing so causes the light to default to "off").
I didn't intentionally unplug it, though the last owner might have.
11-30-2018, 01:38 PM
#10
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Yeah, the radiator was empty. I put a gallon of distilled in easily. That furthers my suspicion that they drained it to make me come back for their recommended service.... It started right after I got my car back when I declined the upsale, it was running just fine and cool the day before.
I didn't intentionally unplug it, though the last owner might have.
I didn't intentionally unplug it, though the last owner might have.
Perhaps something the shop did or touched in the process has caused a small leak, and/or a leak just happened to develop on its own. I don't see how you could have been down a full gallon of coolant while driving around for a month with no issues until now.
If you really think the shop is shady enough to have drained your coolant, then I wouldn't trust the work they did on your rear either. Your '98 would have come stock with an Auburn LSD, and the factory recommendation for this rear is an 80w90 conventional lube with 4 ounces of GM LSD additive (friction modifier). Use of synthetic lube and/or omission of the LSD additive can lead to irregular operation, chatter, etc. If there is any strong evidence that they actually did mess with your cooling system, then I would absolutely not trust any of the other work you had them do.
11-30-2018, 01:49 PM
#11
The low coolant sensor is located near the top of the passenger side radiator tank, straight down from the radiator cap. You can check to see if it's been unplugged. If the coolant level was that low, you should have certainly seen a warning light unless this sensor has been disabled. Their typical failure mode is to illuminate the light even when the radiator is full (hence the reason why some folks just unplug it), so it would be rare for it to fail in such a way as to not cause a light when there is an actual low coolant condition.
Perhaps something the shop did or touched in the process has caused a small leak, and/or a leak just happened to develop on its own. I don't see how you could have been down a full gallon of coolant while driving around for a month with no issues until now.
Perhaps something the shop did or touched in the process has caused a small leak, and/or a leak just happened to develop on its own. I don't see how you could have been down a full gallon of coolant while driving around for a month with no issues until now.
11-30-2018, 01:55 PM
#12
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I bet they started the drain process before they talked to you and the tech didn't refill cause he'd have to eat the cost..
Typical chain shop asshattery... so frustrating.. If you paid with a card I'd have a hold put on the transaction,, then call them..
Typical chain shop asshattery... so frustrating.. If you paid with a card I'd have a hold put on the transaction,, then call them..
11-30-2018, 02:23 PM
#13
Would I have a way of proving that, though? I didn't exactly take a time stamped picture of my filled radiator before bringing it in. That's what I get for trusting people, I guess.
11-30-2018, 02:32 PM
#14
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Well, I took it to the shop like 4-5 days ago, not a month ago. That's why I'm suspicious of them. I will also check the sensor, but no lights illuminated. Just my CHECK ENGINE light (which has been on for a while because of all my emissions **** I deleted that I need to get tuned out.)
So perhaps the above post is the case....they begin to mistakenly drain the system assuming you'd get the service, but then just didn't refill it.
11-30-2018, 02:43 PM
#15
I misunderstood then. When you mentioned it being clean and full a month ago, and then declining the coolant service at the shop, I assumed these were on a related timeline. My mistake.
So perhaps the above post is the case....they begin to mistakenly drain the system assuming you'd get the service, but then just didn't refill it.
So perhaps the above post is the case....they begin to mistakenly drain the system assuming you'd get the service, but then just didn't refill it.
12-02-2018, 02:07 PM
#16
Tell me about it ... my son hopped in his V6 Firebird after oil and coolant service at one of those places. He drove about 45 miles way up into North SD County before it overheated and blew a head gasket. Found a loose radiator cap. It cost him the car as it had 200k, but with a fresh set of tires and newly rebuilt rear end ...
12-06-2018, 08:11 PM
#17
Uhhhh............................. it was almost bone dry again and heating up quite a bit. I guess I need to find a leak..... The coolant is really disgusting and brown, which scared me, but my engine oil is all clean and normal...? Ugh........
12-07-2018, 12:10 AM
#18
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Have you checked the power steering system? The power steering cooler (would have been standard equipment on any LS1 WS6 car) is commonly know to fail and, since it's a fluid-to-fluid cooler that's located within the driver's side radiator hose, it will cross-contaminate both systems. If this cooler hasn't already been deleted, then it might be the source of any brown goo in the radiator. There is a massive thread about this issue in the FAQ sticky for the General Maintenance and Repairs section (cooler delete and/or replacement options, system cleansing, etc.) The auto trans cooler (located within the passenger side radiator tank) can also fail in a similar way, but this is much, much less common than PS cooler failure.
12-09-2018, 02:29 PM
#19
Have you checked the power steering system? The power steering cooler (would have been standard equipment on any LS1 WS6 car) is commonly know to fail and, since it's a fluid-to-fluid cooler that's located within the driver's side radiator hose, it will cross-contaminate both systems. If this cooler hasn't already been deleted, then it might be the source of any brown goo in the radiator. There is a massive thread about this issue in the FAQ sticky for the General Maintenance and Repairs section (cooler delete and/or replacement options, system cleansing, etc.) The auto trans cooler (located within the passenger side radiator tank) can also fail in a similar way, but this is much, much less common than PS cooler failure.
Last edited by SouthernRex; 12-10-2018 at 10:07 AM.
