Recently the temperature guage has been saying that my engine is overheating when Ive only driven a few blocks. Then the guage will drop to normal (about halfway). Its kind of erratic.
I just replaced the radiator so it shouldn't be a broken radiator.

I also noticed that there is smoke coming from the area of the manifold when the engine is running.

I also go through engine oil really quickly.

Could these things be related?
Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks!

I have another post regarding the car not accelerating. Perhaps this problem is related to my other problems.

 

Blown head gasket... said and done.

 

wow, that was quick. Are you sure?

would the lack of acceleration and then sudden surging be related also?

 

Yes, if you want to be 1,000% sure then do a leakdown/compression test.

 

ok, thanks

 

Could be a clogged cat. Couple of months ago my car started acting like that, temp gauge would go all the way up and then drop back to normal after a bit. From there car started having less and less acceleration, felt like I was trying to drive in 5th gear all the time. When I would rev it smoke would come out near the exhaust gasket, also I could hear air moving near the exhaust manifold, kind of sounded like the intake. It got progressively worse over a couple of weeks until it wouldn't even go above 10-15 MPH. I did all the checks that people suggested for similar problems and nothing helped. Anyway eventually I pulled the cat out and it was completely blocked. A piece of the comb had broken off and lodged sideways in the output. If you run out of other things to check you might try pulling the cat and seeing if its in bad shape.

 

You must have missed a point...

I would have said a clogged cat as well, but he is going through oil... Also if you check out his other threads you will find there is more symptoms pointing away from a cat.

 

ok, nevasatisfied, I have solved the overheating problem...not enough coolant. Didnt bleed the air out of the rad when I put in the new one. So that problem is solved.

Now it's just the little bit of white smoke from under the manifold cover and the no accelerating then surging problem.
So you still think its the head gasket?
Others have suggested the fuel injectors are dirty and to put some cleaner through the gas. Another suggestion is that its simply shitty gas.

What do you think?

 

another suggestion regarding the surging is that the plugs and wires need changing. Though I hadn't mentioned the smoke in that post.

 

It could be a blown headgasket still, especially now that you overheated to engine due to lack of coolant. Do a compression or leak down test and figure it out. If that checks out good then disconnect your catalytic converter and see if it is toast. Your motor should not be smoking from the exhaust manifold. Pull your plugs and read them, they could have oil or coolant on them from a blown head gasket. Just oil on them would indicate worn rings/cylinder walls.

 

ok, thanks for your help.