What is wrong with my 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE if it has water shooting out the return jug?
Asked by MzWilliams08 Dec 30, 2013 at 09:42 AM about the 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE
Question type: General
My car is overheating and water is shooting out of the return jug. What should I do?
4 Answers
Water often overflows the recovery tank when a car overheats. Overheating can be caused by many things. A worn thermostat, a collapsed hose, a worn water pump, old antifreeze, air in the system, a clogged radiator. You'll need to check the entire system for proper cold circulation (to verify the pump and hoses are okay) and hot circulation (to verify the tstat and radiator are okay). Never fill the radiator with plain water, not even in an emergency. Corrosion and electrolysis will immediately begin to plug the radiator.
I forgot to mention the radiator cap. It's often overlooked as the culprit in an overheating car. Good luck!
MzWilliams08 answered 10 years ago
I don't have a direct cap to my radiator. I don't think I have a thermostat or do I. If I flush my radiator then what hoses will I check. What do you know about a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am SE.
You definitely have a thermostat, it's located inside the housing that the upper radiator connects to on the engine block. Follow the hose toward the engine, at the throttle body. You can "manually" check the condition of the large hoses by squeezing them, they should not collapse easily. Your system is a closed cooling system, so you don't have a radiator cap. I'd suspect the t-stat more than anything else, and it's not hard to replace. Also check that your cooling fans are working at temperature.