Car won't start after overheating... Need some help.

[JayB98GST]

Ok, I was driving and one of my coolant lines came loose and the car started to overheat. I was on a one lane road without a shoulder and had to drive with it overheating for a couple of minutes. By the time I was able to pull over, the engine was starting to knock a little at lower rpms, like when I let off the gas. So I fixed the hose, added coolant, started the car and let it sit till it cooled off. Everything was fine for about 15 minutes of driving, then I had to stop at a stop sign and it stalled when I pressed the clutch. It would not start back up, it just cranked. So I got it towed home and noticed coolant leaking out of the tail pipe when the car was lifted. I took the head off and there was coolant in the cylinders, so i figured i just blew a head gasket. I replaced the gasket, plugs and wires (because they were a little melted) and it still won't start. It is gettng fuel and spark. So then I did a compression test and got between 60 and 90 psi on all four cylinders. I don't know what to do next and I can't really afford to take it in to a shop right now. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

If the engine was as hot as you say, then very likely the head was warped. I am real concerned about the compression numbers you came up with. I think I would use a second comp gauge as a second opinion. If it comes up the same as the first gauge, squirt oil in cyl 1 and do a compression test. If it comes up then the rings are quite probably the problem as they can lose their ability to push against the cylinder walls. Heat can destroy their tensile strength. Do the other 3 cylinders and see what happens. If it doesn't then it's something the oil can't seal. This leads you to the valves or warped head.

While durable, these engines don't like overheat. Come to think of it, no engine responds very well to overheating. But you got to do what you got to do in the interest of safety.

Good Luck