Head Gasket...help please

[mozzandherb]

I was wondering if a leaking head gasket could lead to the engine overheating? I see no sign of leakage, but my enigine is starting to overheat either while I'm in traffic or when the car is idling. When I'm driving though say on the highway it doesn't overheat. To test to see if it is the head gasket I took the radiator cap off and put some radiator fluid in then pushed on the throttle cable to see if there were any bubbles in the rad, and there were a few, but not to much. My mechanic seems to think it's the head gasket that has a very small leak, but I'm not 100% convinced.

[Leung]

is there oil in your coolant? or is it the other way around? coolant in your oil?

[cpl hero]

What the HELL dude, it seems like there have a few on here with overheat problems. How old is the radiator and thermostat? When was the last time that you had your waterpump (and timing belt) changed out. I would deffinately check with these things before I looked at the head gasket cause I doubt a "small" leak could cause it to overheat unless it's not evough pressure in the system to circulate the coolant. Check and see if your water pump and radiator are good first. If the water pump is bad then you may as well change out the head gasket and timing belt as well. Hopefully it's nothing more than a thermostat or radiator.

[mozzandherb]

Tested the oil and theres no coolant in the oil, and my water pump was changed not that long ago, plus it's not leaking or anything. I am going to change the thermostat though and see if thats the problem, maybe it's getting stuck closed.

[cpl hero]

It could be the thermostat, what's up with that radiator tho'?! Look into flushing the engine coolant, that's something that is often neglected.

[sackingz123]

bleed coolant, check if u still have air bubbles. if you see air bubbles after you bleed, its a broken head gasket. check the oil, check your muffler for white smoke, if its a sweet white smoke, thats the coolant burning off. i wouldnt recommend you drive the vehicle with the broken head gasket. causing more damage and damage to the motor itself.

[cpl hero]

bleed coolant, check if u still have air bubbles. if you see air bubbles after you bleed, its a broken head gasket. check the oil, check your muffler for white smoke, if its a sweet white smoke, thats the coolant burning off. i wouldnt recommend you drive the vehicle with the broken head gasket. causing more damage and damage to the motor itself.

c/s

[Chrisisiced]

Ive heard of peeps running with no thermostat maybe you could try that out before you actually buy a new one if you're low on funds.

Good luck!

[lo-specials]

Ive heard of peeps running with no thermostat maybe you could try that out before you actually buy a new one if you're low on funds.

Good luck!

no thermostat

Then it's probably getting real hot under the hood

[sackingz123]

no thermostat

Then it's probably getting real hot under the hood

no acutaully it will run a bit cooler i heard. correct me if am wrong

[newtuner7]

pretty sure you are wrong... bet hell if low coolant can cause idle problems then iuno

[Chrisisiced]

no acutaully it will run a bit cooler i heard. correct me if am wrong

same thing i heard buddy!

[newtuner7]

googled it and heres some answers

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...AAmHloc&show=7

[cp[mike]]

run without a tstat and it should run super cold, like the needle should hardly start to raise.... itll help you figure out if its the tstat thats preventing the coolant from flowing to cool.

are your fans working?

[mozzandherb]

Yes the one fan I have is working. I went out driving today for a while because it was cooler out today than it has been when the temp gauge was rising, so I went out today and drove and I had no problem with the temp gauge, it didn't rise. So this leads me to believe that it's not the head gasket and it's more of the fact that my engine isent getting enough air with the one fan I have when it's hot outside.
Like I said in hot weather the temp gauge is normal when I'm cruising, but in traffic or idling it rises almost to the top. Now today since it was a little cooler outside it didnt do that. So am I wrong to say it's not the head gasket and it's just simply a matter that in hot weather when the car isent moving, it's not getting enough air. The fan is working and it's faced the right way, but it's right behind my intercooler, so maybe that's why it's not cooling as much as it should? Anyone have anything?