Do I have a blown head gasket?

[187dsm]

Long story short, I had problems with my clutch so I took it in to the mechanic to do the clutch kit, fork, pivot ball..

When It was done, I went and got it and started driving home. I hopped straight on the highway and didn't beat on her at all.
25ish miles later I get off on my exit and stopped at a red light. Temp started to rise a little. Ac got warm. Turned green I started driving for maybe 3 minutes and temp shot up so I shut it off . Didn't drive it. Coolant was bubbling / boiling like crazy for at least 5 minutes.

Put Some water in, started it and inspected for coolant leaks. Noticed gas was leaking off the fuel rail when I did this so I shut it off and I was done.

Took it back to my mechanic. he fixed the the leak on the fuel rail by unbolting one side and tightening it back up.

Then he looked at my over heating problem. He did some pressure tests, and whatever else.. put a ?18 pound? radiator cap on it , let it idle for awhile at his shop and no problems... He said I'm good to go but watch my temp gauge... He said if something happens now, it's my head gasket for sure.

I took the same way home on the highway 25 mile drive. Half way on the temp the whole way. As soon as I get to the red light the temp started rising fast. I shut it off when it hit almost 3/4 . Coolant in the resovoir was bubbling again. Just not as bad.

I had no overheating or fuel leak issues before I took my car into this shop.

Do you guys think I need a head gasket?

 

[92GVR4SC]

I would start with a new thermostat, and you need to make sure your radiator fan is coming on. Not the front fan A/C fan, but the one on the engine side. Make sure the coolant temp sensor on the radiator is plugged in. You can also unplug it, or if you find that it's not plugged in, you can put a jumper wire in the plug in side, and make sure the fan comes on when you jump it out. If you don't have water in the oil, or white smoke coming out the exhaust, and losing water, then it's not the head gasket. You want to make sure you don't let it overheat too much, or you may be facing a blown head gasket or cracked head. Good luck.

 

[randman2011]

Is there: oil in the coolant? Coolant or foam in the oil/dipstick tube? Is there any smoke out the back or the smell of burning coolant or oil? Do you have the ability to do a compression test?

 

[mercaholik]

Yea 92gvr is on the right track, you would be shocked how much we really need that fan. I left mine unplugged after my fmic install and the temp shot up on me as soon as I stopped. So you're not losing coolant at all?

 

[187dsm]

I would start with a new thermostat, and you need to make sure your radiator fan is coming on. Not the front fan A/C fan, but the one on the engine side. Make sure the coolant temp sensor on the radiator is plugged in. You can also unplug it, or if you find that it's not plugged in, you can put a jumper wire in the plug in side, and make sure the fan comes on when you jump it out. If you don't have water in the oil, or white smoke coming out the exhaust, and losing water, then it's not the head gasket. You want to make sure you don't let it overheat too much, or you may be facing a blown head gasket or cracked head. Good luck.

The fans do work. Mechanic checked that out. I'll check the sensor tomorrow. I don't plan on driving it anymore. Thanks for the heads up. I'm actually losing water. I dumped nearly a gallon in AGAIN.

Is there: oil in the coolant? Coolant or foam in the oil/dipstick tube? Is there any smoke out the back or the smell of burning coolant or oil? Do you have the ability to do a compression test?

i don't see any oil in the coolant. No coolant or foam on the dipstick. I didn't notice any smells. But I did see just a little bit of smoke out the exhaust when the mechanic was revving it up. No ability of compression test.

Yea 92gvr is on the right track, you would be shocked how much we really need that fan. I left mine unplugged after my fmic install and the temp shot up on me as soon as I stopped. So you're not losing coolant at all?

i wish it was as simple as that.. yes I'm losing coolant. Almost a gallon disappeared after the highway. But no leaks. I guess it's coming out of the resovoir.

 

[randman2011]

Those are good signs for the headgasket but don't clear it up completely. Did you empty the coolant system for the clutch job? You may want to flush the whole system, just in case something is getting on the inside of your radiator or coolant passages. It would also give you an opportunity to confirm that there is nothing in your coolant other than water and ethylene glycol. I agree on replacing the thermostat as well. I've seen them rust shut in a short period of time.

 

[187dsm]

Those are good signs for the headgasket but don't clear it up completely. Did you empty the coolant system for the clutch job? You may want to flush the whole system, just in case something is getting on the inside of your radiator or coolant passages. It would also give you an opportunity to confirm that there is nothing in your coolant other than water and ethylene glycol. I agree on replacing the thermostat as well. I've seen them rust shut in a short period of time.

The mechanic said he didn't touch any coolant lines during the job.what exactly are the symptoms of a bad thermostat?

 

[randman2011]

Overheating. Spewing coolant everywhere. If it doesn't open, then the coolant just circulates inside the engine until it boils out. It fits your situation, but the fact that you didn't have this problem just before the clutch work makes me feel like there is something else going on. But hopefully it's just the thermostat that kicked the bucket because that's super easy and cheap to fix.

 

[187dsm]

I'll try that out before I conclude it's the head gasket. The thing that is weird to me is that it idled at the shop for at least 15 minutes with no problems. Mechanic was revving it. Holding the rpms at 3k. Temp didn't go past half way. Why when I drive home this happens? And suddenly at a red light

 

[toppertopper]

put a new t-stat in , and test your old one ..Boil some water drop the tstat in see if it opens ..Try a different rad cap also maybe yours is shot
I just finished doing a head gasket on my brothers (coolant was flowing out like a water fountain ) -checked the coolant no oil , checked the oil no coolant ,.But we were very wrong we decided to do and oil change and lots off coolant was in the oil , it did not turn milky but you could see the green coolant while it was draining

 

[shifty2006]

My car is down right now with a hg no signs of anything to warn me never over heated never lost coolant then one day I changed my exhaust mani drove it to work and it got warm pulled it into my work parking lot let it cool it was boiling there was no fluid bought thermostat, raidiator cap and fluid filled it up went all the way home not heating up. Did a leak down test and whammy #1 was pressurizing the cooling system. If you have a air compressor get a leak down tester they are cheap and it would probably answer your question on hg or not.. like topper said boil water drop thermostat in if it opens you know it works. Radiator cap was cheap enough just pick one up if you have any doubts. If your thinking maybe you had air pocket in the cooling system then burp it.. I took my car to the shop before I bought the leak down tester to see if they could test for hg they tried the chemical test but coolent kept bubbling into it and the small town usa I live in no one knows what a leak down test is so I just picked one up. I almost forgot mine didnt lose coolent at first if I didnt boost like at idle ect then finally it did..

 

[johneclipse]

Head gaskets can blow without mixing fluids. I've gone through 2 on my 90 and never had fluids mix. Both times, it allowed exhaust into the cooling system, pressurizing the system and boiling over. So, don't think JUST because fluids are not mixing, it can't be the gasket.

 

[2slow4now]

Head gaskets can blow without mixing fluids. I've gone through 2 on my 90 and never had fluids mix. Both times, it allowed exhaust into the cooling system, pressurizing the system and boiling over. So, don't think JUST because fluids are not mixing, it can't be the gasket.

I had something similar that I had a crack in the exhaust port and would push exhaust into the cooling system. Thought for sure it was a head gasket. I noticed the crack when I pulled the exhaust manifold. You could see white at the crack from the water steaming off (leaving deposits) after I shut the car off. It only showed coolant in the cylinder after it was shut off and the exhaust valve on the cracked port was open.


To the OP, I would never take a car to that mechanic again. In your other thread you said he threw in the towel when it came to doing a head gasket. To me that kind of shows his skill level/abilities. At this point with the advise you've gotten and experience dealing with the issue your probably more suited to fix your car yourself.

You may be able to find a local that has a block chek http://www.blockchek.com/ or just buy one at auto zone or whatever part stores you have local. That would let you know if there is combustibles in your coolant.

Another thing is have you pulled your spark plugs and read them? White crusty could indicate coolant leaking in and burning or possibly running lean causing more heat than normal. You may also be able to see in the spark plug hole with a bright light if any coolant is pooled up on top of the piston. You could also make a simple pressure check gauge to pressurize the coolant system and look to see where it's all going. I've made one before and just threaded it into one of the holes for the coolant temp sensor. All you need is a thread on air valve stem, pipe T with a small pressure gauge on one side of the T, and then an adapter to whatever size threaded hole your going into. Put the tester you made on then pump it up to the rad cap pressure then start looking for the leak. External and internal. External will be easy just look under the car. Internal means digging into stuff. You could remove the TB elbow and look for a leak in the TB, look in spark plug holes, and try to look in exhaust.

When I typed a leak in the TB it made me think of you only heating up after driving but not when idling. Another possibility is the FIAV is leaking boost into the coolant. Pushes the coolant out the overflow reservoir making the system low and then overheating.