turbotime

Ok so i pop the hood after running the car hard for a while. And there is coolant everywhere. My car has a slight headgasket leak or something and dumps coolant back into the resevoir sometimes, not always.

Anyway, so there is no coolant in my upper or lower hose, and there is very little in my radiator. So I fill the radiator back up and set the resevoir at the right level. Run the car til it hits operating temp and the fan doesnt kick on nor do i feel coolant in either the upper or lower radiator line...? But the temp guage shows temps as normal..??

I have no clue what to do, i have tried running the car, running it with the cap open and letting bubbles out, i have tried pouring coolant back into the head through the upper hose... all to no avail. As far as i can tell there is still no coolant being circulated, cause when i feel the hoses there is still no water gushing sound in them... also like i said, my fan never kicks on.

Someone please help me here

turbotime

could my thermostat just be sticking? ahh i need help

yee SERIOUS

iTrader: (1)

you got more problems than me! sorry i have no answer

turbotime

thanks for the bump! bump again! wtf is goin on

blackccoupe

replace the thermo first place to start!

raene

Replace the thermostat and make sure your water pump is still working... run the car (from cold) with the rad cap off, you should see coolant flowing as it warms up.

underpressure02

Have a similiar problem but my over flow tank just filled up and overflowed. I think my theromostat is stuck closed. I got a new one but have not had a chance to install it.

turbotime

ok well i replaced my thermo and it appears to be working- im not overheating at least. I think my headgasket may be blown im not sure

underpressure02

I did not overheat either. My temp stayed the same did not move.

turbotime

how did you know something was wrong then? the overflowing?

underpressure02

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbotime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how did you know something was wrong then? the overflowing?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I pulled up my driveway and saw a trail behind me. I popped the hood and saw the overflow tank overflowing.

I have not had a chance to replace the theromo so I am hoping that was the problem. The coolant was nice and green not milky so I am pretty sure the HG is fine

turbotime

hm thats weird wouldnt it ovrheat if all the coolant was gone?

underpressure02

Rad was still full. Upper and lower hoses felt empty.

turbotime

thats really weird.. wouldnt that cause overheating? is it possible for the engine to me overheating but the gauge to show it being fine?

VTC_CiViC

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbotime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats really weird.. wouldnt that cause overheating? is it possible for the engine to me overheating but the gauge to show it being fine?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Only if the ECT sensor is bad, which I kinda doubt as these sensor's don't typically fail. It's quiet simple, let the car come up to operating temp and feel the upper hose, it should be nice and hot, then feel the lower one. If it's cold, your thermo is stuck, if it too is hot, it's working fine. Try jumping the the fan relay to make sure the fan works, if it does, your fan is fine (if not then just replace the fan) and your relay might be toast if the car gets hot and the fan never turns on.

turbotime

ok according to what you said everything in my car is working fine, hoses feel as they should... fan comes on at random intervals...

Ok now if the ECT were bad what would the signs be? If it were bad would your car stock temp. gauge show the temp as warmed up and fine? (needle in middle) or what would the needle be doing?

thanks again

VTC_CiViC

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbotime &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok according to what you said everything in my car is working fine, hoses feel as they should... fan comes on at random intervals...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well then, seems like your thermo and fans/relay are working just fine. Do you find the car to be losing coolant frequently? Are you noticing any white smoke out the exahust? Is the coolant turning into a milky greyish color? Notice the resorvior bottle overflowing after you run the car hard? If you have any of these, it might be a sign of a breach somewhere on the headgasket.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Ok now if the ECT were bad what would the signs be? If it were bad would your car stock temp. gauge show the temp as warmed up and fine? (needle in middle) or what would the needle be doing?

thanks again</TD></TR></TABLE>

Like I said, the ECT doesn't usually go bad, at least not to my experience. In the rare cases of one that does go, the needle simple wasn't reading anything at all, even once the car had completley warmed up. From the sounds of it, yours is indeed working.

turbotime

yeah the bottle overflows after i run it hard, especially if im in boost for a while it will squirt out of the resevoir.. we saw it doing this on the dyno.

No white smoke but it is greyish, no milk in oil or valve cover tho.

Im sure its the headgasket, im just trying to figure out what kind i need to get..