Pontiac Sunfire having problems

[Thighs]

actually this exact thing happened to a friends f body. im guessing this has the same 3800 series engine?

anyways, have the rad pressure tested. chances are it just overflowed from the reservoir. he took it to some garage in hamilton mill and they said head gasket, new head, blah blah blah. they went to another garage in the area and the guy just replaced the thermostat, and everything was fine. its definitely worth a shot. 30-40 bucks beats 1500+ any day. if nothing else you can just clean the thermostat up if it doesnt work and return it, and you arent even out of money at that point.

[Barefoot]

anyways, have the rad pressure tested. chances are it just overflowed from the reservoir. he took it to some garage in hamilton mill and they said head gasket, new head, blah blah blah. they went to another garage in the area and the guy just replaced the thermostat, and everything was fine. its definitely worth a shot. 30-40 bucks beats 1500+ any day. if nothing else you can just clean the thermostat up if it doesnt work and return it, and you arent even out of money at that point.

ive never seen a thermostat stop a car from turning on.

[jmmx258]

actually this exact thing happened to a friends f body. im guessing this has the same 3800 series engine?

anyways, have the rad pressure tested. chances are it just overflowed from the reservoir. he took it to some garage in hamilton mill and they said head gasket, new head, blah blah blah. they went to another garage in the area and the guy just replaced the thermostat, and everything was fine. its definitely worth a shot. 30-40 bucks beats 1500+ any day. if nothing else you can just clean the thermostat up if it doesnt work and return it, and you arent even out of money at that point.

I really am a car mechanic, and the 3400-3800 are notorious for the intake gaskets going in them. I had to fix 8 different cars in one month this year. Usually we get 3-4 a summer.

The sunfire probably popped a head gasket. It won't start because its probably full of water/antifreeze. Motor might be shot, however, if you pull the head and have it checked, along with the block, you MIGHT be able to get away with decking both, and putting a new head gasket on it.

More than likely its a 2.2l or a 2.4l 2.2 is a SOHC and the 2.4 is DOHC mostly found in the Cavaliers.