I was driving home from work and my car started to overheat. The needle hit the very top (max temp). I immediately pulled over and popped the hood and the car was smoking, coming from around the thermostat housing area. I checked to see if anything was leaking, and it was but I couldnt tell from where. Then I check the reservoir and the coolant is a "**** brown" color. It seemed like the thermostat wasn't opening, and the fan was not kicking on. does anyone know off hand what it could be? Could i have possibly blown my headgasket and warped the head?

 

bump

 

Let me get this straight, your car started overheating and you did not stop until the temp. gauge hit the very top?

MM&Y of car?
Any mods?
Was it smoke or steam?
Does engine still run after cooling down? 94

 

i did not notice the car was overheating until i looked to check my speed, by that point it was already at the top... its a 96 civic hatch, with an intake and exhaust, it looked a little more like steam, and yes it ran after cooling down. I checked the oil and that was fine so im gonna rule out a blown head gasket... Im thinking either the thermostat is stuck closed, or the radiator is cracked.

 

Is coolant leaking from the radiator?

I'm with you, "stuck thermostat" and leak is at rad hose connected to thermostat housing cap.94

 

id say u probibly have a bad thermostat what u can do is take it out and boil a pot of water after its boiling put the thermostat in and see if it opens ull be able to see it ive done it before

 

well it most definitely was the thermostat, i took that out and flushed the radiator. Once i put everything back together, it stopped overheating, but theres smoke coming from the radiator, I've got to drive back to my parents house wednesday night (75 miles). Do i need to replace the rad or not... it doesnt seem like its leaking anything

 

Well the symptoms you describe sound more like a head gasket. But before you start tearing the head off the engine, go ahead and fix any of the leaks you find and cross your fingers.

 

im really not leaning towards the head gasket only because the oil isn't milky and theres no smoke coming from the exhaust. which are the usual symptoms correct?