Hey! A friend has one of these and is experiencing run-hot conditions,all the obvoius has been addressed with no results. The unit has 260K. The water pump was last replaced @ 175K-I am leaning towards the water pump as the current problem though,these are all aluminum and I think the shaft-bore is worn and the impeller isnt turning. I want to tell him thats the cause,but I'm not positive.FYI the LIM job was done by 2 months ago. And it has been fine until now,What say you? Thanks! step66

 

What is your definition of 'all the obvious'? Doesn't really sum anything up for us..

...

Check thermostat, see if the electric fan(s) are kicking on, is it low on coolant, etc

 

water pump, thermostat, rad cap, fans, radiator plugged? fins plugged too? is there air in the system that needs to be bled out?

how hot is hot to you?

 

The 3.1s have been known to have both heads & head gasket troubles. I had a 91 Lumina & the heads were done at around 130K & at 258K either the head gasket or head went again. This time it was added to the crusher pile.

 

The 3.1L v6 is notorious for blown intake manifold gaskets as well. If the system isn't sealed and maintained at 16psi, the boiling point of the coolant is much lower.

 

Yup most definitely.. done a few of them myself.


Check for leaks going back to possibly being low on coolant. The gasket isn't all that hard to replace yourself if that is the case and you have a decent idea of what you're doing.

 

All of the obvious means that all the main culprits (symptoms) have been addressed and checked!DUH! Thank You! As said the LIM WAS changed out already! Boiled the t-stat ok too! Still leaning towards the pump! Pump so easy to change on these...Again NOT MY CAR!-- just trying to help a neighbor-that's what this forum is all about! Right?