Radiator flush

Just get super flush and let it run in the system for a week. Drain, fill with water, warm up car with heater on, drain. Fill with proper anit-freeze (they are not all created equal) and distilled water only. Never use tap water.
 
The flush stuff that you buy has a mileage that it needs to circulate through your system. Be sure you let it do its thing. Other than that, when you are flushing just keep rushing water through your open system until it comes out clean at the drain. Just make sure you are keeping it full on water, don't let it run low.



If it is 12 years old, then it may be time to have it rodded out. Shop around for a radiator shop though - not all of them are competent.



DLB
 
Just have it exchanged at your local trust worthy mechanic. Should cost you about $75-$100 depending on the size of your cooling system. The trick is to change it out every 2-3 years so you don't get all that crap built up in it.
 
Take it to a shop. It sound like you may have a problem some where. The Dexcool that comes in GM autos sludges up and turns brown when there is a air leak in the coolent system.
 
Could be any number of things that would cause an over heating problem. 1st thing comes to mind is check the coolant level when the vehicle is cool. If its normal then I would question if the water pump is working properly or not.



If coolant is low, then you have a leak, simple as that. Low on coolant will cause it to over heat. Finding that leak though can be a very expensive task, we just put a motor in a 97 Taurus that had the freeze plugs go out on the tranny side and the water pump side. Also the coolant bottle was leaking and the water pump was shot, radiator went boom, and the a/c went out. $950 later the motor locked up on us and we bit down and put a motor in the car to the tune of $1000. So now I have alot of money in a car that isn't worth that much ;)



Moral of the Story: If the vehicle has high miles on it, depending on the problem it may not be worth trying to fix. Find a good spot to bury her and leave her be.



Good Luck finding your problem....



1. Check Coolant Level (if normal, check your water pump)

2. If Coolant is LOW (well good luck there)



Never had any luck with a radiator flush to fix a problem like overheating.
 
if you're losing coolant and overheating, and have the V8, have a mechanic pressure check your engine, mainly the intake side. My mom's just had the intake gasket fail on her suburban and searching GM/Chevy forums it seems that gasket fails often on those cars.



btw, it cost her $750 iirc, this was a privately owned shop that we use often.



but as bwalker said, check the levels first. then test/replace the thermostat, you can also pressure test the whole system to see if there is a leak (rent the tool from autozone for $25-50 - deposit returned in full when you bring tool back)
 
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