so delete it if you will, but i really didn't feel like finding a cavalier forum lol:

my 98 cavalier 2.2l just recently had head gaskets put on. it was still overheating after the job, so we took it back to the shop. the guys there and i bled the coolant system, fixed the fan, and had a new hose installed. after that, it still wanted to overheat. i replaced the thermostat, and the guys at the shop inspected it again. i wasn't out there with them, and they left the little screw loose where you let the air out of the system.

my mom was driving it home just now and it overheated really bad. i went and tightened the bleeder screw thing up because i noticed they left it. after that, it was pretty much alright, except for the fan not kicking on. i'm going to take it to the shop again tomorrow, get the fan right, and see how it goes. it seemed alright to me after doing the thermostat, they just left that screw loose. would leaving that loose cause it to heat up? i mean, when i tightened it, i went ahead and drove it home just now (a 30 minute drive), and i watched the temperature gauge carefully. it barely went over half, then back down to half, and repeated. it only got a little toasty while idling, but that's obviously the fan.

so, if it's still acting up, which i doubt, tomorrow, what else could it be?


again, i know it's not a camaro, but you guys always help me out, so i thought i would ask anyway. thanks.

 

How bad of an overheating is "really bad"? One thing to be careful of is when an engine overheats, an aluminum head can warp. And that would undo all the good that was just done. Tell mom that the gauges aren't there for decoration. When any of them get close to the danger zone, shut the engine down.
I replaced a bad head gasket on a 97 Cav last year. It hadn't overheated on us at all, but the head still had a slight warp on the front corner. I had the head surface shaved to true it back up. Do you know if your head was checked and trued up?
With the bleeder screw open, you should have been spewing coolant out, and you would have seen the mess, unless you're running almost dry.
Is your fan still not going on? That alone will make the engine overheat. Possibly your 30 minute test drive was with the car constantly moving, where the fan isn't needed?

 

thats ok u own a camaro so i think u can get away with it. i assume u did check the coolant level and add to it. if u havent your going to have to rebleed the system. every time the car was run it was dribbling water out and when shut off and cooling it was sucking air back in.

 

if you gauge is constantly going up and down, i wouldn't be surprised if you have a bad temp sensor or a bad connection. Does the car leak coolant out anywhere, like around where the water pump mounts? water pump could possibly be going out