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Remember awhile back i seemed to have this odd random charging system bug that i suspected due to heat? well i was partly right, it was heat. today i got the four dings and once again the little engine symbol and 'Check Gages' in the DIC, only this time my voltmeter was reading perfectly normal at 14.5V. oil pressure also normal. the temp gauge has been broken since i got the car, always pegs the max so i never paid attention to it and i never saw any telltale steam or signs of overheating. but as i drove ten more miles i heard that distinctive rattle sound that you only hear when a car gets hot, followed by a sudden loss of power. i managed to limp it home and let it cool, and refilled the coolant once it cooled down. luckily it seems to start and run just fine, only now i got a very shaky idle. it is no longer pinging but the under hood stinks of steam (from it being hot earlier) and the idle is very rough. it drives fine otherwise, no longer stalls, but i worry, did it get damaged? there is no milkshake in the oil and no steam anymore from the exhaust, but the shaky idle has me concerned. will it dissipate? did i get water somewhere on the plugs? what i think has happened to cause the issue is a faulty radiator cap. i'll get it replaced but the alternator issue was a symptom of borderline overheating which became far more severe today. after refilling it and driving the warnings have ceased and it seems normal other than shaky idle. (had a hard time getting it started initially after letting it cool down, it died in my driveway when it got that hot)

Even after flushing the Dexcool out of my 96 SE the cap still gunks up every 6 months.
Its is possible the clogged cap could have allowed the coolant level to go low creating an air pocket.
Make sure you bleed the air from the stat housing.

i purged some bubbles from it this morning and the shaky idle has ceased so that's good.

EDIT: a new problem. i'm not overheating and there are never any leaks when the engine is running, but i seem to be trickling coolant from the water pump area after the car is SHUT OFF. it only loses perhaps a quart each time. i can watch it while running and no leaks. shut engine off, leaks. each time a little close to a quart. it's not a radiator hose either. i've seen water pumps fail but they always end up leaking with the engine running as well as after shut down. never just after shut down only?

I am also still getting the little engine symbol and 'check gauges' but now all of them are reading normally. no overheating, no oil pressure loss, no alternator issue, but the DIC keeps randomly chiming in with that warning.

I have seen water pumps leak when cold, no pressure in cooling system, but NOT leak at operating temp under pressure. Look for signs of coolant leakage on the underside of the water pump. There is usually a weep hole or an area where you will see evidence of leakage. You will most likely need a small mirror on a stick (and a small flashlight) in order to see this. Also look for evidence of coolant "slinging" off of the INSIDE of the water pump pulley onto surrounding areas. Any coolant or buildup of gunky crap on the inside of the water pump pulley may also indicate a leaking water pump seal.

^^^ X2 ^^^

Roger.

i found out that the water pump is shot. it pees coolant from its weep hole as i drive down the road, with the loss being much worse when the thermostat opens up. gravity also plays a part, if the engine is cold and i try topping off the radiator, it trickles until it reaches the halfway mark. it won't let me put any more in. the pump swap is easy by the looks of it, unfortnately i've never been able to successfully swap a serpentine belt. getting them off is easy, but getting them back on is a test of my sanity.