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1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more?


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GrandMan
New User

Nov 17, 2012, 2:56 PM

Post #1 of 8 (1846 views)
1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

3.1L V6, 57K miles
Alright so my car has been having a few issues ever since some idiot took a crowbar to my serpentine belt when he was changing it (Needless to say I don't work with that mechanic anymore. A few months ago my belt tensioner snapped going right down the road, scary stuff.. Lose your power steering, car shuts off.. Never good. But anyway, I got a new belt and a new tensioner on and moved on with life!
So almost immediately after I got the new belt on I began to hear this AWFUL squeaking noise.. At first I assumed it was just the belt but now I'm not so sure.. It usually only happens now when I leave in the morning... It gets louder and louder up until about 20 miles an hour, and then it stops making the noise.. Any clues on this one? Sometime it seems to worsen when my wheel is turned very far one direction or another
Issue #2: Coolant leak. So my car has been leaking for a while and I figured out pretty quickly that it wasn't oil and that it must be my coolant. I have been completely UNABLE to locate the leak though so could anyone give me any ideas as to where to look? Unfortunately I let the issue go to long and when I stopped today I noticed steam rising from inside my hood, sure enough, the coolant reservoir looked like a hot springs. I got the lid off and filled it with water which will work until I can fix the leak.. But where should I look for it?
Issue #3: (Possibly connected to two) Sometimes when the car is Idling it makes this popping noise from out of the engine... As if there is a midget trapped in the hood trying to knock his way out.. However, I think it may be connected to the coolant (Possibly a noise coming from the radiator?) I say this because today when my engine was turned off and I was working on the coolant reservoir (While it was still steaming and hot), I heard a popping noise just like the one it makes when it idles... appearing to come from the radiators direction.. Any ideas here?

There is also an issue occasionally with pushing the gas in and the car lagging and then jumping forward, but that's my transmission, and I don't want to get into that, that's a scary place, so I'm going to pretend that has never happened.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 3:12 PM

Post #2 of 8 (1838 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

Have the cooling system pressure tested and find out where the leak is. A bad water pump would explain both problems.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



GrandMan
New User

Nov 17, 2012, 3:15 PM

Post #3 of 8 (1834 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

Thought it might be the water pump, probably a stupid question, but do know where I can located the weep hole to see if she's weeping? Either way, having it pressure tested tomorrow.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 3:16 PM

Post #4 of 8 (1832 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

The weep hole is behind the pulley and not visible without removing the pulley.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



GrandMan
New User

Nov 17, 2012, 3:31 PM

Post #5 of 8 (1821 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

Alright.. Thanks..! Any clue what's going on with the first problem?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 3:36 PM

Post #6 of 8 (1815 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

What first problem? It all sounds like the same issue to me. Your belt didn't break for no reason at all.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



GrandMan
New User

Nov 17, 2012, 3:51 PM

Post #7 of 8 (1806 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

Just the squeaking noise? The one that gets louder till about 20.. only happens in the morning ^^^^^^^^^


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 17, 2012, 4:41 PM

Post #8 of 8 (1788 views)
Re: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am.. Coolant issues and more? Sign In

Get one problem resolved first and then see if the other one still exists.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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