some problems with a car i might be getting

i might be trading my current vehicle for a 97 Riviera S/C. it seems to be having a few minor (i hope) issues.

first is a whine from passenger side wheel when accelerating and turning. likely the wheel bearing as the driver side was replaced not too long ago.

second is a little harder to guage. the previous owner is saying that at temps sub zero the car will warm up but the heat will blow cold and it starts to want to overheat. he replaced the t-stat which had failed closed but it did not fix the problem. this only occurs in sub zero temps, heat blows fine and car does not overheat even when temps are in the single digits. any ideas?

Check coolant for how low it will go before freezing.

I agree, sounds like improperly mixed and freezing coolant. Otherwise air pockets need to be bled out of a bleeder in the thermostat housing when the cooling system is filled, odd things can happen if there are big air pockets in the system - but that shouldn't be temperature related. Where are you buying the car from? (i.e. southern states might use a more watered down coolant...)

if you have to replace coolant anyway, pull the thermostat and make sure it's not in backwards (should not be able to install it backwards but some Genius may have found a way).

I'm thinking more power steering pump than wheel bearing. Mine wasn't loud when accelerating , mostly when braking , and only got loud when turning to one side , quieter to the other. Wheel bearings don't necessarily fail at the same time , IIRC a member on here ( AA?) replaced one bearing at 75k miles , and the other one is still going strong 100k miles later.

any other ideas guys. and the car is on the iowa-minnesota border so its used to cold temps.

There are all kinds of things that could be wrong with the cooling system. A collapsing lower hose, air pockets trapped in the upper engine, water pump... inside there are blend door actuators known to be problematic... Impossible to tell from here...

For the whine, if it happens at low speeds I'd guess P/S pump, if it happens all the time I'd want a closer look at the bearing, it should be easy to diagnose either once you have the car in hand. Jack the wheel off the ground and try to 'wobble' it up and down by hand, you'll get an idea how much play is in the bearing. It should move very litte. (a little bit is 'normal' though)

worst case scenario lets say the water pump is going, how intensive is the replacement?

Not a bad job, should be able to do a water pump in an hour if you have some experience.

For the passenger side noise, if it's a bad wheel bearing, it should sound like a low rumbling that gets louder when you make a hard right turn (applying weight to the left side). Sometimes, the bearings can go silently. Check by raising the car by the frame and push up and down on the wheel. If one feels sloppier than the other, it may need replaced.

If the noise is a higher-pitch, like a whine, and it does not change during a hard corner, it's probably not coming from the wheel bearing (hub). If it only gets loud when you turn, I'd say power steering fluid is low, or power steering pump is bad. If it whines during acceleration, it could be from worn transmission parts. My transmission had a mild whine for at least 20k miles before I needed a rebuild. Not saying it's definitely the transaxle, but I'd be on the lookout when buying a new car. At least check the trans fluid level, color, smell, and ask to see maintenance records for fluid changes or any trans troubles.

AA wrote:

If the noise is a higher-pitch, like a whine, and it does not change during a hard corner, it's probably not coming from the wheel bearing (hub). If it only gets loud when you turn, I'd say power steering fluid is low, or power steering pump is bad. If it whines during acceleration, it could be from worn transmission parts. My transmission had a mild whine for at least 20k miles before I needed a rebuild. Not saying it's definitely the transaxle, but I'd be on the lookout when buying a new car. At least check the trans fluid level, color, smell, and ask to see maintenance records for fluid changes or any trans troubles.

I'll know more about the problem once i get it into my hands but in response to some of your ideas. the driver side bearing/hub was replaced very recently and the transmission was replaced 5k miles ago with one with ~45k miles.

the heater core could be clogged.