Questions and Answers

Pontiac Grand Am Is Overheating?? Q. Good afternoon. I have an overheating problem with my 1992 Pontiac Grand Am, 3.3 liter engine, automatic transmission, fuel injected, ABS brakes, P/S, A/C and cruise control. It has 109,000 miles on it. The most recent work that I have done is: Removed the heads for rework, all new gaskets, new temperature sending unit, fan control sending unit, water pump, thermostat, radiator hoses, heater core, new cap on the water tank.

The radiator has been cleaned, the drive belt is new, tension is good and the fan works.

I drove the car to work this morning without incident. On the way back it started to overheat. The oil pressure was around 60 psi, the temperature gauge was under 220°. I am stumped! I really can't figure this out. The car starts right up, no hesitation.

However after it warms up, and is idling, it will vary from around 200 up to 1,000 rpm until it levels off. Could the timing be off? Would this cause it to overheat? What about the oil pump? If the gauge indicates 60 psi could it be defective and could this cause it to overheat? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bruce

A. Does it actually boil over or is the gauge showing overheat? The reason I ask is because a lot of people think their car is overheating when actually they aren't. The fan doesn't come on until approximately 240°. If the system is capable of holding pressure it should not boil over at 240°. You may still have an air pocket in the cooling system. If not, re-check your work.