Car overheats on long drives

I have a 2009 Aveo5 LT with about 60,000 miles on it. Last year a couple of the radiator hoses needed to get replaced. After replacing the hoses the car was still overheating, so I replaced the thermostat. The car would be fine for a while but sometimes the temp needle would start to creep over the halfway mark. I assumed it was an air bubble. Since this car doesn't have a valve on the cooling system to bleed out any air, I released the air from the system by slowing opening the reservoir cap and allowing the air to escape. I would tighten the cap once I saw antifreeze start to come up. The car ran fan for a while but it started to act up again.

The wife got a new job that's 17 miles away and once she started to drive the car on this longer commute she noticed that the temp needle started to creep up over the half way point again. I figured it was another air bubble and I opened the hood to bleed out the system a so noticed the hose from the radiator to the thermostat houses was swollwen up. When I bled the cooling system the hose would shrink down in size.

Whats the issue here? It it safe to assume that the thermostat is going bad?? Is it just the hose that is going bad and I should replace it before it pops??

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Originally Posted by Strike

I have a 2009 Aveo5 LT with about 60,000 miles on it. Last year a couple of the radiator hoses needed to get replaced. After replacing the hoses the car was still overheating, so I replaced the thermostat. The car would be fine for a while but sometimes the temp needle would start to creep over the halfway mark. I assumed it was an air bubble. Since this car doesn't have a valve on the cooling system to bleed out any air, I released the air from the system by slowing opening the reservoir cap and allowing the air to escape. I would tighten the cap once I saw antifreeze start to come up. The car ran fan for a while but it started to act up again.

The wife got a new job that's 17 miles away and once she started to drive the car on this longer commute she noticed that the temp needle started to creep up over the half way point again. I figured it was another air bubble and I opened the hood to bleed out the system a so noticed the hose from the radiator to the thermostat houses was swollwen up. When I bled the cooling system the hose would shrink down in size.

Whats the issue here? It it safe to assume that the thermostat is going bad?? Is it just the hose that is going bad and I should replace it before it pops??

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Hi all,

I think you may have a couple of things going on. I also have a 2009 Aveo, and in the last couple years I have replaced both rad hoses, both heater hoses, and the coolant recovery tank twice, all due to leaks. The hoses are bulging because your engine oil cooler is leaking oil into the coolant, and softening the hoses. I wouldn't be surprised if the oil/coolant sludge is also gumming up the thermostat or coolant sensors. Or causing air pockets in the cooling system. Be prepared to replace the oil cooler as part of the solution for solving your overheating, or pending overheating, problems. If you don't replace the engine oil cooler, your hoses aren't going to last long.

That's my guess.

Deano

So, 6 months later, have we found a fix OP? My 09 has had the radiator hose replaced twice, this time it blew a week after it was installed.

Thanks,
Zak