I do not know if my problem is a bad head gasket or just trapped air in the coolant system. If I drive my car for more than 15 minutes the temp gauge goes up to O. So today I had to move the car but this time I let it idle. It got up to R range so I went to go check on my fan it wasn't on. So I turned on the AC and the fan came on but the temp still went up to O. What I also noticed was that the coolant level went up in the over flow bottle it went up to nearly the top. Now when the car was cold the coolant was just below the cold fill line. Is that normal for the coolant to rise in the bottle? Last week I over heated the steam came out of the over flow bottle. Thats when my serpetain belt broke off. So last week I put on a new belt, water pump, thermostat, oil filter adapter gasket. I tried to bleed it but I cannot get the crossover cap to open my ex mechanic tightened the cap that when I try I broke 2 socket wrenches already.
bad head gasket or air in the system?
- Thread starter Abbens
- Start date
I would definitely try to bleed the system before i jumped on a head gasket. Take a pair of channel locks and very carefully remove the crossover tube bleeder. Just make sure that you only get the cap with the channel locks cause it's not very thick.
I bought a craftsman 1/4 socket wrench. Man the cap is on top. But the craftsman is built good cause it didn't break. But I think I stripped the cap because it doesn't twist left that good.
topher5150
Dedicated LVC Member
if the engine was over heating due to bad head gasket couldn't you also check the oil, look for white milky oil
The oil is fine. When they did the oil filter adapter gasket they put a few more quarts in. It doesn't look like chocolate milk. Also no smoke out of the exhaust. What worries me is how the coolant level in the over flow bottle rises when I was driving
davidm
Well-Known LVC Member
Go to a radiator shop and have them weld a bolt to the crossover cap, works great.
mikemark8
Well-Known LVC Member
You have to get that cap off somehow-your options are to use a large vise-grip plyers and carefully get a bite on the very narrow lip of the cap and unscrew it. If you get a good bite on it, try tapping it off with a hammer. The welded bolt is a good technique too. I said this earlier in another post, with the engine cold drill the stripped out 1/4 inch cutout, starting with a small drill bit and work up to larger sizes until you are larger than 1/4 inch. Have someone standing by with a magnetic pickup tool to catch shavings. Then tap the final drilled hole so that you will be able to close it with a bolt after you fill the cooling system. If you have any air in the system, you will have issues like what you are describing. If you did not blow the head gasket, this should solve your issues. Coolant will expand when the engine heats up so the level in the overflow bottle will rise-that is normal. If you are seeing large bubbles in the overflow tank with the cap off after the engine warms up, you're going to end up doing the head gasket (s) at the very least. Driving it in this heat without removing the air in the system will probably make things get worse, so you need to act in some way to get your system bled or you will overheat it enough to need another engine.
97SilverLSCcobra
Dedicated LVC Member
Did you ever find out if you have a blown head gasket or not? Because I am having the same problem but I can get my crossover tube cap off!
I do not have a blown headgasket. I kept on adding fluid through the over flow bottle which I know is wrong. But the gauge did go lower. The only issue I have now is the water pump leaking. Even though its less than 3 months old. Good luck maybe you have air trapped in the system?