Came home and heard some hissing coming from under the hood. Popped it and saw steam coming out of the overflow tank for the radiator. Could it be that my headgasket is blown?

 

is it the first time your ride has overheated??? is the fluid level good or low? if you pop out a plug what do they look like???

 

hmmmm not necessarily it could be a million things does the car overheat recently??? did it have water when it happend ?? have you checked the thermostat, water pump, Etc start by there

 

or...it could just be as easy as your radiator cap!!!

 

Well I had the chance to check the coolant level. It was somewhat low. Also, my radiator cap kind of fell apart. I did notice yesterday before coming home that was running slightly hotter than normal but returned to normal when the fan kicked in. I poured in some distilled water and noticed the coolant was foamy as it came out. The coolant wasn't a deep bright green but rather clear with a green tint to it.

edit: Not too long ago, my car sucked in water. Never had an overheating problem since. I did a mini-me swap awhile back and used metal gaskets.

 

bump...

 

if your radiator cap is bad that could also be the cause because cooling systems are pressurized to raise the boiling point of the coolant and also if air is leaking in the system that can do the trick sometimes

 

i got the same problem, but i think its my headgasket apparently you can hydrocarbon test to determine this.

Is oil in the coolant or vice versa? Any coolant or oil on the block? Puddles under the car?

 

I haven't had the time to pull the plugs or do a compression check. As far as I know, there isn't any oil in the coolant, but there is bubbling/foaming in the radiator with the engine running.

 

Okay, bought a new radiator cap. Indeed the old one was broken.

So what are tell tell signs that I have a bad headgasket?

 

Do this first (just my opinion).

I had the same problem, and we immediately assumed it was a head gasket. i even bought a thermostat and it still happened. Before you rip the head off and buy a new head gasket do these following steps:

1. Change your oil + a new filter.
2. Drain your coolant from your radiator and reservoir.
3. Flush your radiator and reservoir out with a lot of water.
4. Install a new thermostat.
5. Refill the coolant.

I know it sounds stupid, but after we changed my headgasket, we realized there was nothing wrong with it. My coolant system just needed flushed and changed. Besides, I spent $45 and 2 hours on the head gasket, when all I needed was about $20 for a new thermostat, oil, oil filter, and coolant.