Could be a clogged heater core.
Gm used the Barrs stop leak right from the factory to seal up new blocks. It was the kind made from walnut shells not the metal sealant. He may have used too much if you are overheating. I would do a good flush and go get the bars stop leak in the tablet form, follow directions and see if that helps. I had a persistent leak from my lower intake manifold, already replaced it once, put some Barrs in and now have zero leakage, no overheating either. I would have re-replaced the manifold's gasket but the car is just a beater. Now this stuff is a bandaid not a repair. So if you push the car hard the leak will reemerge.
SOURCE: leaking coolant by pass.side-middle close to firewall. eng.temp gets hot
Sounds like the water pump, it will fling coolant as it leaks when the engine is running, also check the heater hoses and if coolant seems to come from the bottom of car and not the engine then it is a heater core leak.
SOURCE: 1996 grand prix se running hot
it sounds like it may have air in the system there should be a bleeder valve for the coolant also if it ran hot you may have a possible head gaskt problem i would try bleeding the air out of the coolant system and if problem is still there you can buy a kit to check the head gasket it hooks to the coolant system and you pour a liquid in it and if it turns from blue to yellow it has a head gasket problem
SOURCE: 1996 Pontiac Grand Am overheating
If its the 3.1L it could be your intake manifold gasket , the material used for the gasket does not react well with GM's Dex-Cool antifreeze. The leak may not be apparent at first, but I would pressure test the cooling system. If you look at the front of the motor by the belts , try to peek down at the intake manifold and check for slight seapage to an obvious leak.
If its either of the Quad-4's they were notorious for heads warping or cracking.
SOURCE: overheating
If you are wanting to sell it "AS IS", I would sell it and not put anymore money into it. As far as the overheating, try replacing the thermostat, or the water pump. Do you notice if you have white smoke or drips in the drive way? The smell of something like syrup?
Run the vehicle for about 15 minutes in the driveway and then start looking are the ground under the car for radiator fluid that is leaking. Look around the top of the motor too...paying attention to the large hoses and the sides of the radiator. Watch the water pump area also. If you have a bad water pump...you'll need to replace it.
SOURCE: COOLANT LEAK - MID -ENGINE 2.4L 99 GRAND AM SE
check the upper rad hose to engine there is a plastic housing with a seal replace it
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