Hello All!
I apologize ahead of time for my long-winded thread, but I've been fighting this issue for 2 winters now.
I'm having some frustrations with my Heating system. Quick history.. I have a 2005 Grand Prix Base model, 3.8L V6, automatic transmission. It has 146k Miles. Last winter I had some heat, not much, so in July I had my cooling system flushed. It took about 3 hours, but Midas finally got through all the build up in the heater core. I've never had that hot of air in the car until then. In the end of October, I noticed streaks coming up the hood of the car, saw a green-ish liquid leaking by the belt, dropped it off to the mechanic thinking I had an AC leak. Turns out the water pump was leaking and spraying coolant onto the belt and then up the front of my car. Had the water pump changed, coolant refilled, and check engine light cleared. One week later, Check engine light was back on, and my reservoir was empty. Filled that back up with some good ol' Dex Cool, drove 2 miles, light went off. Later that day, I jumped back in the car heading home from work (23 mile drive) and the Light came back on. Reservoir was still full. Started the next day to work, light shut off, stayed off for a few days. (It had still been 70 degrees, didnt need heat). It came back on, took it to Auto Zone who said I needed coolant. Tank was full. Light has been on ever since.
On to This week.. When I start the car and let it run Idle for at least 30 min, the heat is hot, and my temp. gauge is about 50%. When I begin to drive, the gauge drops to the floor, and my heat is gone. Im lucky if I get luke-warm air at all. I have been getting a strange smell in the car, and it smells like Celery. Today, my co-worker started my car for me, and I let it run 40 min before I drove it, because i wanted to see if i got heat. I drove it one mile down the road going 45mph the heat was gone again, Temp. needle again on the floor. The smell of Celery was strong, and I noticed white steam / smoke coming from the hood. I pulled over, and from what I could best guess, the steam / smoke was coming from the hose that connects to the Thermostat. As I was on the side of a highway I got back in the car and drove the remaining 20 miles home. I pulled it in the garage, could smell the Celery, but didnt see the steam. I squeezed as hard as I could on the hose, had no leaks. The engine was still hot. I could hear and see the coolant back up into the reservoir.
Im at a loss at this point. Does it sound like there could be air in the system? Do I have a bad Thermostat? Why do I loose heat when I drive, and lastly why is my check engine light telling me Im out of coolant? I feel like the solution is simple but I'm over looking it.
