Odd overheating problem(soft upper hose)

[OfnaRcR4]

1992 olds 88
Last summer i had to put a new radiator in the thing because my grandpa just loved stop leak. New T-stat as well. Was fine for about 6 months and now its overheating again. The car will overheat, city, highway, idle. Fans are turning on.
One major thing that bothers me is that the upper radiator hose remains soft, not completely soft but definitely not hard enough to be holding pressure. No apparent coolant leaks anywhere.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[T3rril79]

was the pump ever replaced?

 

[OfnaRcR4]

Nope but that's a good idea

 

[hvyman]

Those engines have intake gasket issues. And i have done head gaskets on them as well.

 

[OfnaRcR4]

Those engines have intake gasket issues. And i have done head gaskets on them as well.

Yeah so i've heard. It'd have to be some kind of massive leak though and it would be spitting out smoke like crazy if it was that right if it won't hold pressure right?
As for the water pump, i understand it'll add a bit of pressure but isn't most of the pressure built up mainly because of heat?

 

[hvyman]

They leak a lot on the sides outside the engine. Should be able to see it. If there is a leak it won't pressurize.

 

[T3rril79]

Is this olds the 3.8 L v6?

 

[OfnaRcR4]

I think its the L36 but yes the 3.8
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[Prism11]

There is a little plastic elbow for coolant on the passenger side of the motor that often degrades from heating up and cooling down constantly. Had one blow apart going down the highway and dump coolant all over causing a huge smoke display. When I went to replace it, the remaining portions crumbled in my hand. Make sure to get all the small pieces out of the passages. I also had the intake gasket leaking issue in mine as well.

Other than that, that motor gave me 250k miles without issue before trading the car in.