help me determine if my head gasket is blown

[ekoms]

Ok here's the deal. last night I was driving my car when all the sudden I heard the serp. belt screeching. looked @ my gauges & the car was right below the H on the temp gauge for the first time. I pulled over, shut her down & popped the hood. the coolant res. was pretty full & boiling. I let it sit awhile & the coolant res. continued to fill up more & boil. it started to come out the overflow tube & I lost a little coolant. I cracked the radiator cap slightly to relive the pressure & it stop boiling in the coolant res. . after about 10 minutes I popped the rad cap off & refilled it & drained the coolant res. down to the full mark as it was completely full to its cap. started it up & got about 2 miles before the temp gauge started to climb again (it didn't boil or overflow this time). so I called my girl & we swapped cars & she took it home. she drove it about 9 miles uphill to our place. she said it stayed in the middle the whole time but when she stopped @ home, left it running for few minutes it began to climb again. later today when I got home I went straight to the car (it was still a little warm) & checked the coolant. the rad was full to its cap & the coolant res. was pretty much empty. I filled the coolant res., left the rad cap off & started the car. within seconds it almost overflowed out the rad cap. shut her down & put the cap back on. started her up again & the coolant res. filled up about a quarter-half an inch then stopped & got steady (no bubbles). I left it running for about half an hour & watched the coolant res. closely. nothing happen the entire time & the temp gauge stayed in the middle. the fan kicked on & stayed on the whole time too. now my car has 160,00 miles, smoke white & misses in cylinder 4, but its done that since I got it. I shoved my nose in the exhaust & it doesn't smell sweat it smell like its running to rich & I suspect I'm missing on #4 because the injector is bad/leaking, nor do I have any coolant leaks. my o2's are factory/bad (p0140) need replaced & I think their contributing to it running rich. I pulled the #4 plug & checked its color. It was a little damp but not from coolant. probably from gas or oil & was kinda brownish, no green tent. I looked through the plug hole to see if their was water/coolant on the piston & it was just covered in carbon buildup. I did a compression test & got this #1-160, #2-170, #3-160, #4-180. so my compression is good. I checked my oil, still nice & clean/brown & coolant was still green. neither mixed with each other. I'm getting a new thermostat today cause I think it went bad although when the radiator was empty last night enough to look at the thermostat I look like it was totally open. I'm stumped & not sure what else to look @.

I so sorry for the paragraph, but I need your guys help & want ya to know everything. thanks so much.

ekoms.

 

[ekoms]

Ok I replaced the thermostat with the standard 195*. I'm not sure what the temp the old one was, but its running a little cooler now. I also found a pin hole in the reservoir line from the rad cap. I guess we'll see what happens tonight @ work. unless you guys know of something else to look for. sorry again for the giant post above.

 

[ampm27]

yeah bro it just sounds like you were on the verge of over heating.. good save though! is your radiator in good shape?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Yep check the rest of the hoses they are so cheap, to replace.

 

[ekoms]

ok i checked rad hoses while the engine was running & their not leaking. as far as I know my rad & water pump are good.

 

[NeMiZiS]

I would do a compression and leak down test to know for sure.

 

[ekoms]

I would do a compression and leak down test to know for sure.

Ok I will do. I know I can do the leak down @ home by making a tester. I found this site to make one - How To Make An Engine Cylinder Leak Down Tester
But can really find anything on doing the rad compression test. they all say to go to a shop. are they pretty much the same concept ? I could figure it out from there.
also just to make it clear,it smokes white-gray. not totally white like an obvious bad gasket. an its faint, you can see it best when the suns out, but the exhaust smells rich.
thanks

 

[ekoms]

ok I just got home from work & she did just fine. the temp stayed right in the middle as usual. I'm going to watch my coolant very closely to see if it slowly disappears.

 

[NeMiZiS]

Ok I will do. I know I can do the leak down @ home by making a tester. I found this site to make one - How To Make An Engine Cylinder Leak Down Tester
But can really find anything on doing the rad compression test. they all say to go to a shop. are they pretty much the same concept ? I could figure it out from there.
also just to make it clear,it smokes white-gray. not totally white like an obvious bad gasket. an its faint, you can see it best when the suns out, but the exhaust smells rich.
thanks

I meant to do a compression test on the cylinders.
Generally if you have a head gasket leak, you will have bad compression at least on the cylinders around the leak.If you have all even compression, then you would want to do the leak down test to know for sure.

 

[ekoms]

I meant to do a compression test on the cylinders.
Generally if you have a head gasket leak, you will have bad compression at least on the cylinders around the leak.If you have all even compression, then you would want to do the leak down test to know for sure.

in my first post I stated that I did do a compression test & got this #1-160, #2-170, #3-160, #4-180. what do ya think.

 

[head_trauma911]

check radiator cap, had 98% of what you said happend to me today, my radiator cap was bad, half the gasket missing, old 97 rusty like, paid 7 bucks , no overheat. Look at the cap closely

 

[boostedtsi401]

that all happened to me too, changed everything, thermostat, cap, rad. is 15 mos old, fans good, even did the water pump, when i got it running after i did the pump and it still ran hot i did a compression test and got 160;160;140;145...then i performed a leak down test to confirm, opened the rad. cap and pressurized each cylinder (rather than crank the engine for compression) and heard it bubbling through the coolant..i'm waiting for the brown truck to pull up with my gasket set!!!

 

[Black420RS]

I had the exact same problem in my car, was the radiator cap

 

[ekoms]

thanks guys, I'm still haven't done the leak down yet as there's no sears here to get that regulator @. I have to go out of town to hit a sears & been busy fixing other peoples cars. mines on hold but still runs strong & hasn't overheated since I replaced the thermostat. its smoking less too I tried to make a vid in the middle of the day for ya to see the color, but it smokes so faint it didn't show up on the vid. anyway, a leak down is really the only way I'll fine out I guess. I'm going to check the cap too, if I have time today. so far I've already replaced my friends front hubs/rotors/pad on his 98 c1500 pickup this morning & I have to get started on dropping my girls tranny on her 97 cavalier to replace the main seals. sometimes it sucks to be a trustworthy neighborhood mechanic, I cant get any work done on my own rigs. oh well.

 

[ekoms]

well last night she got very hot again, about a 1/4 inch from the H when I caught it. I pulled over, popped the hood & checked what I could. nothing unusual besides a little more coolant in the reservoir tank. I let her cool down a little, then continued. about 15 minutes later my temp gauge started fluctuating (the needle couldn't make up its mind). I pulled over again & checked everything again & noticed the rad cap leaking & the reservoir tank was bubbling, it didn't overflow though. so I pressed down on the cap & the tank stopped bubbling & my temp gauge got steady (still pretty hot though). I then continued again & after getting on the move again my temp dropped back down to the middle & everything was fine. so you guys were right my rad cap is the problem & I'm getting a new one today. Ive also determined my smoking issues are my valve seals. oil is leaking past & I'm burning it all away. I changed my oil 2 weeks ago & Ive already burned up 1qt. so she needs a valve job. if my head gasket is an issue it will be replaced once I get the valves done. but we'll see how the car runns with the new rad cap.

 

[ekoms]

well I've put a new rad cap on & its still running hot sometimes. whats happening now is it stays cool (middle of gauge) as long as I keep moving. if I stop & its idling or drive real slow it starts to climb. it hasn't gone higher than 3/4 up the gauge & it hasn't over heated. but gets hot still. I've also noticed it only takes about 5mins for the car to warm up from dead cold start & if I let it get to its highest point, then start driving down the road the temp gauge will drop down to the middle pretty fast. as long as I keep moving it'll stay in the middle. it use to stay in the middle all the time, no matter what.

also I switched to a thicker oil 10/40 with lucas & it not really smoking anymore.

 

[Black420RS]

maybe there is some kind of obstruction in your radiator or thermostat

is the coolant level OK inside of your radiator?

how much pressure is marked in the new radiator cap?

 

[bullettdsm]

I didn't catch if you said so in your first post, but are your fans actually working? If they aren't working, you will overheat at idle.

MB

 

[ekoms]

maybe there is some kind of obstruction in your radiator or thermostat. is the coolant level OK inside of your radiator?

that's what i was kinda thinking, so i flushed the whole system today with a garden hose.

how much pressure is marked in the new radiator cap?

the only numbers on the cap are 1.1. not sure what that means, but it said it will work for my eagle. its a CST rad cap #7516

I didn't catch if you said so in your first post, but are your fans actually working?

yep they work great. they always kick on once the gauge sits in the middle for a few minutes. I waited for them to kick on today to make sure they are spinning & they do.

I'll see how she does tonight with the system flushed & fresh fluids.

 

[ekoms]

ok it still doing it & getting hot quicker it takes a little longer to warm up but after driving the car for and hour or so it will start to rise quick once I start driving it slowly. here's a few more things I noticed, if it'll help @ all. there's a water trickle sound from behind the passenger air bag (driving me nuts) but no visible leak, if I turn on the heater to at least the #2 setting it will barely climb like maybe an 1/8 inch up. if I turn it off it will start to climb up higher, today it climbed up a little higher than 3/4 on the gauge. Im thinking there's a large air bubble in the system, water pump failed although if I run the car with the rad cap off I can see the coolant flowing or the single fan is just not cooling it good enough. Im thinking about wiring the second fan to kick on along with the first one once they are triggered. ya think anything bad will come from that like running to cool ? Im stumped, this car is my DD so I cant really go tearing apart the system. also I didn't back flush the system when I flushed it, I will probably do that today & see if that helps along with wiring up the second fan. should I start the car when I flush it or just flush it without it running like I did yesterday.

 

[ekoms]

Ok I let it warm up with the rad cap off today to verify that the thermostat & water pump are working correctly & they are. the thermostat opens & the coolant starts flowing through it like a garden hose. it has a very strong current. I also wired the second fan in front of the exhaust to the first fan so when its triggered they both come on. not sure what else to try beside a lower degree thermostat.

 

[GreenDemon95]

Do you notice more coolent in your coolent reservoir everytime you drive it down the road?

 

[Zardoz]

there's a water trickle sound from behind the passenger air bag (driving me nuts) but no visible leak, if I turn on the heater to at least the #2 setting it will barely climb like maybe an 1/8 inch up. if I turn it off it will start to climb up higher, today it climbed up a little higher than 3/4 on the gauge. Im thinking there's a large air bubble in the system, water pump failed although if I run the car with the rad cap off I can see the coolant flowing or the single fan is just not cooling it good enough.

I think you are correct there. That "trickle sound" usually means there is air trapped in the system somewhere. But if the overflow/recovery system is working properly the air usually gets worked out of the system.

This is from another thread ( Mystery leak under car) :

It's an expansion tank. Fill the radiator cap, then fill the expansion tank. Go for a drive, come back home, cool the car off and re-fill the expansion tank. Do it three times and your cooling system -if it's healthy- will have purged itself of any air.

Exactly, and also, when you put the tube back into the overflow reservoir, make sure its not kinked. The 2G reservoir is bizarre design. A kinked tube inside the reservoir will let overflow coolant out of the radiator and into the reservoir, but during cool down won't let the coolant back into the radiator system! The reservoir will keep rising and eventually overflow. If not noticed, it will appear to be a leak in the coolant system.

 

[Zardoz]

Oh, I also forgot...when I bought my Talon the radiator was almost completely plugged with dirt in the fins. They are so delicate though I couldn't use hardly any water pressure at all with out flattening them out. So, with the radiator already out I let the dirt soak a while in soapy water then got busy with a tooth pick...it was really dirty and took over an hour.

 

[ekoms]

Do you notice more coolent in your coolent reservoir everytime you drive it down the road?

yes i do notice more in the tank, but once I shut her down & she cools some it sucks it back in the radiator. so that means the recovery system is working correctly.