i have a 95 RS and my car keeps on overheating.
i thought it was the thermostat but i have a doubt on it. and it is not colant either.
when i did my tune up i had oil on my spark plugs so im thinking i have leak on my head gasket!? waht i wanna know is what possible makes the gasket leak? i am planning to change head gasket, valve gasket, timing belt. what should i change while im in there?

 

More information than just saying the car is overheating is needed to help you.

Generally speaking, a good place to start is by changing the thermostat. Then having the radiator flow checked. The last thing you would want to change out is the headgasket.

 

Yeah not to mention, if your headgasket is leaking, u'll note a small trail of whiteish smoke coming from your exhaust. ( and a huge one if its blown )

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by T3mp3sT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah not to mention, if your headgasket is leaking, u'll note a small trail of whiteish smoke coming from your exhaust. ( and a huge one if its blown )
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that and youll have some oil in your antifreeze..

 

when i did my tune up i had oil on 2 of my spark plugs.
and when i put in the fuel injector cleaner ***** the car started smoking from the engine when i rav the engine up a lil. so i decided not to put in the fuel injector cleaning. there isnt really whitish smoke coming out from my exhaust, only time the smoke comes out is when i start up my car to warm it up, which seems normal because its a little chilli at md. and most of the times the car overheats when i get stoped at a light and wait for the light to change. it takes about good 1 minute or 30 seconds then the car starts over heating. once in a while it over heats when im just driving on the regular basis(happened twice) the car over heats out of no where. then it stop when i let go of the gas paddle. oh yea and when i replaced my intake filter it didnt over heat for about a week then it started again. NEED HELP... post it up

 

any advice n e one?

 

Is the oil found on the top of the spark plugs? If so then you may have to replace the grommets on the valve cover. The grommets are there to prevent oil leaking into the spark plug holes.

Are you constantly refilling your radiator? If so then you may have coolant leak somewhere. If you don't see any puddles on the ground then its probably an internal leak in the motor such as the head gasket. If your radiator is still full of antifree and its still overheating then check that your radiator fan is working. The fan should come on when you've reached normal operation tempartures. The fan is there to suck out the heat from the radiator. If it doesn't operate when your motor reaches normal operating temps then you may have radiator fan problems.

 

actually i have no puddle of coolant leaking but i do think that my fan does not run. i always thought of that as weired and thoguht that it could be the problem. what can possibly make the fan not run. im short on budget so im trying to do it all myself with a friend. i think i had oil on 2 of my spark plugs and it was at the bottom tip when i took it out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iNtoXicaTedSPOON &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... what can possibly make the fan not run. im short on budget so im trying to do it all myself with a friend...</TD></TR></TABLE>The fan switch is in the thermostat housing. That's where the BOTTOM radiator hose attaches towards the back of the head. Take off the 2-wire plug, jumper the wires together with a paperclip. When you turn on the key, the fan should run.

If you do that & the fan runs, then probably the fan switch is bad.

If that doesn't make the fan run, check fuses. If they're OK, come back & someone'll tell you how to check other stuff.

I don't think the oil on the spark plug is related to the overheating.