Head gasket?

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kevinspann

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I am looking to buy a 1995 Mark that is having an "almost" overheating, and coolant loss issue. The owners have had the water pump, thermostat and radiator replaced, apparently to no avail. When i went and looked at it, it was about half full of coolant. They say there are no leaks.

-I checked the oil, there was no milkiness.
-I didnt smell the reservoir to see if there was an exhaust/fuel smell.
-There was no smoke out of the exhaust when it started, or for the short time it was running. I used to live next door to them, and never saw any smoke come out of the car either.
-When i pulled the cap off of the reservoir, it seemed like it was under pressure
-When the car was running, i had the cap off of the crossover tube. There was a faint white mist coming out of it, but i never smelled anything that seemed like exhaust/ Fuel
-There are no leaks inside the car (aka heater core)

What may be the issue is that somewhere along the way someone didnt properly fill the system. And from what i read, the thermostat *could* be installed backwards, but looking at one, it seems like a hard thing to do. Another issue ive read about is the oil filter adapter gasket.

Anyways, what do you all think?


Edit: If i did a compression test on the car, what would i be looking for?
 
What do they claim the temp guage gets up to when it's overheating, after new parts?

They could've had a problem and fixed it, and filled the system wrong. These cars are very picky about bleeding all the air out, it gets trapped pretty easily. It has to be bled out through the crossover, and takes some time to do. Of course if you bleed all air out and make sure you get it full of coolant and still have a problem it could be a minor headgasket problem that you'd want to catch before it gets worse.

I don't see what else it could be, either air trapped, or like you think, a headgasket. Headgaskets don't always mix oil and coolant.
 
I believe and someone with more skill can correct me if I am wrong. that if 2 adjacent cylinders have low compression thats a good sign of an impending head gasket problem.
 
poniesviii said:
What do they claim the temp guage gets up to when it's overheating, after new parts?

They could've had a problem and fixed it, and filled the system wrong. These cars are very picky about bleeding all the air out, it gets trapped pretty easily. It has to be bled out through the crossover, and takes some time to do. Of course if you bleed all air out and make sure you get it full of coolant and still have a problem it could be a minor headgasket problem that you'd want to catch before it gets worse.

I don't see what else it could be, either air trapped, or like you think, a headgasket. Headgaskets don't always mix oil and coolant.
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they say its gets "up near the top, but not all the way" women...:rolleyes:

Im thinking (hoping, since i want to buy it) that it just wasnt refilled properly, since they did have several things done to the cooling system.
 
Well, tell them you're going to fill it and see if you can find the problem. Bleed it out (it'll take an hour or better, because generally you have to shut the crossover before you lose your progress on coolant filling, shut it off and let it cool down then re-open the crossover and start again) But it may not take as long since the system's new and clean with out build up.. then see if it comes out of it, take it for a drive, .. and of course, don't let them know it's fixed before you write the check.
 
poniesviii said:
Well, tell them you're going to fill it and see if you can find the problem. Bleed it out (it'll take an hour or better, because generally you have to shut the crossover before you lose your progress on coolant filling, shut it off and let it cool down then re-open the crossover and start again) But it may not take as long since the system's new and clean with out build up.. then see if it comes out of it, take it for a drive, .. and of course, don't let them know it's fixed before you write the check.
Click to expand...

That is the plan. Im going to see how cheaply i can get it though first. If its cheap enough, i may just buy it anyways
 
If it's a nice car you can see being happy with for a long time I'd say it's worth fixing a head gasket. It's a pita but, it's getting harder to find a nice mark for a decent price.

Also, it sounds like the owners at least try to maintain it. Which is a huge rarity..

Good luck.
 
Also, if you've never filled a mark with coolant or bled air out, use the SEARCH function in the top bar on the screen, use keyword "coolant" and you'll find many how-to's. Because truly, it's a pain. I've filled many cars, this one's it's own animal. When you think it must be good enough, it's not. All that air has got to come out. Remember to close the cap before you shut the car off for the cool down period, or it'll suck in a buttload of air and you'll lose all progress.
 
I just went and looked at it some more. Its in pretty decent shape especially if i can get it for around 1500 like im thinking. Drivers seat has some wear, but its not torn at all. Passenger seat is nice, backseat is practically perfect. There is a crack in the top part of the center of the dash, and im doubting that only that top peice can be changed, instead of the entire dash.

I have read about filling the coolant on these cars, which makes me think it wasnt done properly. I looked at the reciepts, and they show twice that a dye test was done to try and find any leak, so im guessing it didnt show anything.
 
+1 for the bleeding the air out thing. I thought "it has to be full" yeah right, I overheated so bad my oil was a little thicker than water :slam
 
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