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Pontiac Aztek Overheating Problem

30 messages,  Last post on Nov 16, 2009 at 3:54 PM

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What is this discussion about? Pontiac Aztek


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#13 of 30
Re: [Rebasunshine] by ashesatwork
Feb 08, 2009 (4:37 pm)
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Replying to: Rebasunshine (Feb 07, 2009 6:13 pm)

I took mine to the dealer.. ends up $1958.78 later... new intake manifold gasket.. new header gaskets.. rework to headers and exhaust.. i havent actually looked at the bill to see if they did anything else or charged me for the wash which was nice .. but i drove 2 hours away and back this weekend with out any problems. I hope its done cause im BROKE Good luck!
#14 of 30
Re: [ashesatwork] by Rebasunshine
Feb 09, 2009 (6:18 am)
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Replying to: ashesatwork (Feb 08, 2009 4:37 pm)

Im beyond broke so I hear you there. The only thing we havent done is the head. New intake gasket and replaced sensor. The car isnt over heating any more just lose heat on and off. Im told its air in the line somewhere but we bled it for hours yesterday... guess we're going to try that again. I love the car (style etc) but I think we're about done. Also had 3 rearends put into it..Thanks
#15 of 30
COOLING FANS NOT WORKING by pastfrustrated
Jun 01, 2009 (10:41 am)
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I noticed the temp gauge shooting up to red line a month ago - we live in the SW - very hot here. Figured out that the fans were not kicking in at all. Could this be the BCM?? Is that considered the same as the 'sending unit' in these cars? I'm not very mechanical, any info would help me. Meantime, I can't use my Aztek to go very far at all, not to mention not being able to use the much needed AC !!
Please help -
#16 of 30
Re: COOLING FANS NOT WORKING [pastfrustrated] by Rebasunshine
Jun 01, 2009 (11:20 am)
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Replying to: pastfrustrated (Jun 01, 2009 10:41 am)

Well when mine started that I brought it to a dealer and was told the fans kick on at a very high temp and not before ( cant remember what that was) but my husband thought it was ridiculous.. after countless $$$ spent it ended up being a head gasket AND intake manifold gasket both were gone and are common problems.. only problem was I had driven it and played the game of "lets see how far I can get" and the engine was toast. My reccomendation would be DONT DRIVE IT and have a mechanic check those 2 things b4 you toast your engine too.. I got rid of mine (broke my heart) but now am driving a GMC Envoy XL and LOVE it!! Good luck!
#17 of 30
Re: COOLING FANS NOT WORKING [Rebasunshine] by pastfrustrated
Jun 01, 2009 (11:51 am)
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Replying to: Rebasunshine (Jun 01, 2009 11:20 am)

Thx for reply - o.k., so it was the intake & head gasket on yours, BUT did your fans stop working?? I've had my '04 for 3 years and the temp gauge never went past the halfway mark even when it was 110 degrees, but it does now. The fans are not firing at all.
#18 of 30
Re: COOLING FANS NOT WORKING [pastfrustrated] by Rebasunshine
Jun 01, 2009 (2:55 pm)
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Replying to: pastfrustrated (Jun 01, 2009 11:51 am)

mine did the same thing, never went past 1/2 the first 3 yrs I owned it. Then it did, and the dealer mechanic was right it was kicking on at a higher temp.. way higher than it ever did. My husband even put a different thermostat in to accomodate to no avail.. I would seriously think of gettinng it checked. There is a meter you can put right on where the oil cap goes to see if there are any pressure leaks.. cant hurt to get it checked better than ending up like me and mine.... good luck!
#19 of 30
2001 Pontiac Aztek Engine Overheating Problem Solved by gary_success
Jun 20, 2009 (3:04 pm)
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1. Remove the air cleaner and duct assembly (duct that attaches to the throttle body)This is easier then it looks and take only a couple of minutes to do.
2. Drain the coolant until the level is below the thermostat (use the radiator petcock for that). If your troubles are the same a mine there will be no water in the hose coming from the thermostate and no draining is necessary.
3. Remove the radiator hose from the housing.
4. Remove the thermostat housing and gasket. I boiled the old one and the new one in a pan over high heat to see if they would open as they should and noted that the old one only opened about 1/32 if an inch and the new one opened all the way to about 1 inch. Da...problem solved for me. The thermostate bolts are a nightmare to get to, I think it's a number 12 or 13mm open end wrench. The bottom bolt can be just loosened a little and the thermostate housing will lift off freely, the houseing has a slot for this purpose. If you take this route you will need to remove the throttle body which would be another nightmare, if you do and are able to be sure to have a new gasket on hand. Estimate time 5 hour because of the vary tight area to work in, using the two hand technique one finger above and one finger from below, small turn many times to secure.
5. Remove the thermostat.
6. Clean the mating surfaces of the block and the thermostat housing.
 
Install
1. Install the thermostat into the engine block. Before installing the new thermostate I refered to the site listed below for a jiggle valve (drill small hole so air can automaticaly escape)
2. Install the thermostat housing and gasket. I purchased a 180 degree which is not recommeded, but my problem is resolved. Be sure to replace the gasket, it comes with the new thermostate.
Here is some useful information taken from this site:
http://www.aa1car.com/library/overheat.htm
When refilling the cooling system, air can become trapped under the thermostat. This will form a steam pocket that prevents the thermostat from opening and may cause the engine to overheat. Some cooling systems have one or more bleeder valves that can be opened to vent air from the system while refilling the system. If your cooling system does not have a bleeder valve, you can drill a small hole in the thermostat as shown. This will allow air to escape past the thermostat so it is not trapped inside the engine block. Some thermostats come with a similar feature called a "jiggle valve." There is a small hole in the thermostat with a pin that allows air to escape.
 
3. Install the thermostat housing bolts. Tighten bolts to 25 Nm (18 lb ft). This is critical as the housing is just made out of aluminum and you would not want to warp it and create a leak. I guessed these measurements because there is no room for the special wrench for this.
4. Install the radiator house to the thermostat housing.
5. Install the air cleaner assembly and duct. Now would be a great time to replace the air filter if you need to.
6. Fill the cooling system with dex-cool, per procedure in the Owner's Manual. After you have filled it, use the air bleeding procedure to remove the excess air from the system. You may have to readjust the level by adding coolant and re-bleed the system after a couple days of driving to burp the air out of the system.' good luck
#20 of 30
Re: [ashesatwork] by mitch37
Aug 09, 2009 (4:25 am)
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Replying to: ashesatwork (Jan 30, 2009 5:42 am)

This sounds like you have a intake gasket leak. You may not be seeing any fluid on your garage floor because you are only at idle.If yous aztec is pushing the antifreeze into your over-flow tank and not sucking it back out on it own when it cools you definately have a leak somewhere.
#21 of 30
Re: [mitch37] by gary_success
Sep 10, 2009 (8:24 am)
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Replying to: mitch37 (Aug 09, 2009 4:25 am)

Well now after many,many bleeds 3 thermostat changes (running without one now). The car overheats after 15 minutes of running on local streets. The overflow tank fill up when overheated and alarms are sounding, and bubbles continue to enter the tank from the over flow hose. The hose is all the way into the tank to the bottom so that it does not suck air as coolant is needed.
1. filled system
2. opened drivers side bleed valve first and applied air pressure to radiator until a steady stream flowed from valve and closed while still flowing not to suck up air. And did the other valve the same way.
3. topped of radiator again and ran engine, right away the radiator would start burping out the fill hole. It does not seem to be flowing around, just burping. Filled and closed cap.
4. drove 15 minutes with heat on, which was hot at start then went cold when overheating started. 3/4 gage to alarm overheat in less then 1 minute after cold air started flowing from heater.
5. turned air conditioner on to make sure fans would be on high, but it did not help.
6. shifted to d3 with rpms over 2000 and no change.
The next thing that I will change is the water pump I guess, only $20
Then LIM lower intake manifold gasket, around $50 I think. This could be a lot of work, maybe more then the thermostat was. I won't go into that after three times, the second time I made a mistake and after 4 hours of work realized that I had put the old one back in again, old one meaning the second one which I modified by drilling a small hole in it so it could help release air. So pulled that one out and removed the guts of the stat and installed it with only the stat ring and seal to see if running without a stat would help. That was of no help.
Can someone give me a little good advice, other driving it into a lake. My email address is garygruichsbcglobal.net
#22 of 30
Overheating by corrie2
Nov 15, 2009 (2:53 pm)
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We bought a 2001 Aztez and the engine fans are not comming on and as a result the engine almost overheats. We have replaced the fuses and the mini relays and still nothing is fixed. We do not know where the thermostat is (that is our next guess) and would really like some help.

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