SOHC_MShue

Ok i am once again having problems with overheating and i figured it was a headgasket again, but this one seems different. Now normally my coolant level in the overflow is about 2cm of coolant. ever since this last headgasket change it seems that my coolant level will rise up about halfway or close to the minimum then once the car cools off for a few hours it will go back down to where it was. This i hear is normal. Well a couple of times in the past 3 months my car has overheated randomly, but just a little bit. Its always happened when i was just sitting there not moving. Like the first time it happened i had just turned the car on after it had been cooling off for about 30 minutes and i was sitting there with it idling for about 5 minutes before it randomly started to overheat. I shut the car off for 5 minutes and then turned it back on. I was like oh great i blew another headgasket. I drove all the way home and i hadn't overheated again. I checked my overflow and it was a bit higher than normal, but not alarming. After that night I checked it and it was all the way down again.

Fast forward to this week...over a month later...I was street tuning my car and at one point i turned the car on after it had been sitting for a few minutes and i sat there fiddling with the computer for about 10 minutes. Again the little needle rose up a little bit. I checked the overflow and it was a little higher than normal, but again it went back down overnight. Then a week later i took my car to the track. I had been running it hard all night and the car was barely ever given a rest. I drive all the way back home( about 45 minutes) and finally check my overflow. It is filled up a little past the minimum this time. I got worried, but figured it would go down overnight, which it didn't. I drove the car the next day thinking i had probably blown the gasket, but i wanted to make sure. Later on that day after the car had been sitting for a while i noticed the level had mysteriously gone back down to 2cm. Then today one day later i drove the car back and forth to go out to eat(getting on it a couple of times on the way) and then i shut it off. After about 5 minutes i started the car back up and drove 1 minute away to the park with friends to take pictures. It took about 5 minutes to get to the picture spot and my car was basically idling the whole way driving through the park. As we were parking i noticed my heat started to rise again. I shut the car off and popped the hood...this time the coolant was almost to the max line. I was like **** its definintly blown for sure, but then after waiting about 15 minutes i drove it home and even got on it a little on the way home to see if i could spray coolant out the tank just to make sure its blown. I got home and checked it...it was at the same exact level and i even let the car idle for like 10 minutes and again it didn't overheat. I was like wtf so i drove it around for a while and beat on it pretty well again...i get back home and the coolant is the same level and after letting it idle forever there was still no overheating. I am willing to bet that if i go back and check the coolant level in the overflow in a couple of hours it will be back to normal.

Now when i have blown headgaskets in the past the car would usually overheat a couple of minutes after ragging on it because air would get in the system as i boosted. It would also normally overheat all the way to the H before i could get it home(about 2 mintues away from where i was driving it). Also the coolant level would not go down after letting the car cool off. This time it seems that my symptoms are a little different. Is it normal for the coolant to rise that high even if i was just having thermo problems or a problem with my radiator cap?

Sorry for the long question guys, but its a weird problem.
PS: my car shows no other signs of a leaky headgasket...no mixed oil and coolant, no white smoke out the tailpipe, no loss in power, etc.

NJIN BUILDR

Try a new radiator cap.It may just be pushing coolant past it into the tank if the spring is weak.
Glenn

SOHC_MShue

yea thats what i was thinking maybe, but i have a history of blowing headgaskets

B6tPoweredMx3

yea look at it this way its cheaper to buy a radiator cap than another headgasket.

SOHC_MShue

yea thats true. It seems that the problem has gotten worse and worse though...like its started filling up more and more before going back down.

HYBRID_H@TCH

I would try the radiator cap aswell..

SOHC_MShue

hmmm i wonder if my headgasket hasn't been leaking all along. I've changed it 3 times so far ...the first time i'm positive it was the headgasket though because that **** spit coolant everywhere

NJIN BUILDR

The pressure raises the boiling point.If the system won't hold pressure it will boil over quicker.Race cars will run 22#-25# ones and stock ones are in the 14# range.
Glenn

SOHC_MShue

god i hope its just the cap...i am tired of this gasket ****.

SOHC_MShue

any idea why sometimes it does it and sometimes it won't? Its only overheated 3 times in the past 3 months.

JC VTEC

is your radiator fan working properly? i used to have the same problem and it turned out that my fan switch is craping out on me..

SOHC_MShue

nope the fan works great.

SOHC_MShue

alright i was just driving my car again tonight and it started overheating again while driving. The heat would fluctuate from just above the middle thing to halfway to the H. Then it would go back down and back up again. I'm pretty sure it really is blown because it has gotten really bad. The coolant level stayed high, but didn't raise any.

boostincoupe

how about you pick up a new Y8 block for $50-100 and go from there.

SOHC_MShue

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostincoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how about you pick up a new Y8 block for $50-100 and go from there. </TD></TR></TABLE>
i have one sitting in my garage that is about to go in .

Laserjock

air temps have been getting warmer up here in NoVA. how's it down your way? that may explain all this. another long shot-thermostat?

SOHC_MShue

yea i thought it may be a thermo at first, but after tonight it seems way too much like a headgasket. I had similar symptoms the last time i changed the gasket and they went away after changing it. I really just need to get the new block in.

The temps have been getting warmer down here...finally

platinum00

what do you got in the new block.

any goodies.

SOHC_MShue

haha nah goodies would cost money which i don't have . I'm just hoping this new block's deck is straight. I'm gonna take it to get checked.

platinum00

must be nice to have a extra block laying around.

alot less downtime that way, my car was down for over a year.

SOHC_MShue

haha mine may still be down for a while. I'm not gonna have much time to do it. Also it would help if i had some air tools .

platinum00

i feel ya on the air tools. i really need to invest in that.

i got a gun and a couple sockets, but nothing cool, and i dont have a compressor.

maybe this summer i will fix up my garage and get some nice stuff.

yea right, im flat broke but hey it's good to dream.

SOHC_MShue

haha yea i guess i'll have to borrow from friends...i always hate doing that though..its a hassle.

platinum00

dude, half the **** in my garage is not even mine.

i barrow eveything,

SOHC_MShue

i have been borrowing an engine lift and stand for 3 months now ...my parents have been bitching the whole time as well....i wouldn't mind changing headgaskets so much if i didn't have to deal with them. They just bitch and complain the entire time my car is in there "getting their garage dirty".