Ok, here's the deal, i hope someone can help. Whe i start my car, the engine temp stays below cold for several minutes then jumps to about 3/4 of the way to hot within 3 seconds. When this happens, i turn on my heater and it blows out cold air. I changed the thermostat and it made no difference. I took my radiator cap off and looked into it and the fluid wasn't moving. After it runs for a while, and the needle shows hot, i grab the upper radiator hose and it's cold. I don't see any fluid leaking from the water pump or anything and the shaft on it doesn't have any play. When it runs for a bit i see a little white smoke coming from the exhaust, but only when it heats up. Does this mean that my head gasket is gone, and if so, why won't the fluid move at all, and why would the car be heating up like that with no hot air coming from the A/C? Hope someone can help!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stevorh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... After it runs for a while, and the needle shows hot, i grab the upper radiator hose and it's cold...</TD></TR></TABLE>This part REALLY sounds like a stuck-closed thermostat. So if the T-stat is new, maybe it's defective? Maybe you put it in backwards? Maybe the T-stat gasket is wrong & obstructing something?

 

Well, I would agree with you, but i thought the same thing, so I ran it without any thermostat and it was doing the same thing.

 

If the radiator was completely blocked, then it would do that. They usually get full of crud, but don't COMPLETELY close off. If there's even a small flow thru the radiator, the top hose should get hot. Can you take off both radiator hoses & run water thru the radiator?

When I change antifreeze, I remove the T-stat & rinse a couple times with water. When I do that, I can see the water moving thru the radiator cap, & it gets warm.

 

I ran water through the radiator and it drained out of the plug, so it's not totally plugged. But i'm wondering if it's just the water pump. What would rule this out?

 

I had this problem before and in my case there was an air pocket in the hose and it was keeping the thermostat from opening. So what I did is I grabbed the top radiator hose and started squeezing it like a pumping motion. Eventually the air pocket went threw and then I had circulation. Hope this helps out.

 

Yeah, check again for air pockets. Squeeze the radiator hoses, listen for sloshing sounds. You should also be able to feel the difference water vs. air.

Normally there's 2 ways for a water pump to fail...
1 Bearings get bad & it makes horrible noises. But it still pumps water.
2 shaft seal starts leaking. But it still pumps water.

I guess it's not impossible for the impeller to break, but I think it's pretty unusual. The only way to know ABSOLUTELY is to take out the water pump. (That's a timing-belt job...)

 

could it be that my heater core is clogged?

 

or my head gasket is bad?

 

Clogged heater core, or bad headgasket, doesn't explain why the top radiator hose never gets hot. Also doesn't explain why the water doesn't move in the radiator neck.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Red Andy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I had this problem before and in my case there was an air pocket in the hose and it was keeping the thermostat from opening...</TD></TR></TABLE><TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimBlake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, check again for air pockets. Squeeze the radiator hoses, listen for sloshing sounds. You should also be able to feel the difference water vs. air.</TD></TR></TABLE>Have you checked this out yet? Is there a bleeder valve on your thermostat housing or on your head?

 

There is a vent screw on the thermostat housing, and i tried running the car with this off, and nothing came out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stevorh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is a vent screw on the thermostat housing, and i tried running the car with this off, and nothing came out.</TD></TR></TABLE>Open up the thermostat housing, look around, figure out why.

Water should come out when you open that 1/2 turn. That's how you bleed air out of the system. Water should have come out, maybe spurting with air bubbles at first.

 

That's why i'm thinking it's the water pump, because when i open that thing, water should have been shooting out. What am i looking for in the thermostat housing?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stevorh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's why i'm thinking it's the water pump, because when i open that thing, water should have been shooting out. What am i looking for in the thermostat housing? </TD></TR></TABLE>Even if the pump were bad, you should have water leaking out of that bleeder. So that must be blocked. Water runs out of mine with the engine turned off (when it's opened).

I guess you're looking for blockages anywhere. Opening the thermostat is way easier than removing the timing belt & waterpump.

 

Ok, i just changed my water pump, and i ran it for a while, and the needle did the little jump up to 3/4 hot thing again, but this time, the upper hose is hot and i see that the water is flowing. My heater still isn't working, and i still see white smoke coming from my exhaust.

 

Alright, well, i just drove my car, and the head gasket is definately blown. Any suggestions of how i can get it home without putting a smoke screen for thise behind me?