Car over heating very fast under load...

[96Holly]

Well, still have a problem...

Over heating still. ad The last thing I did was purge the system and idled the car with the cap off and hard wired the water pump. (Good/Bad... I am tring anything now...:confused ) I got a blip of air here and there but nothing serious (possible last bubble of air...:confused ). When both the analog and digital gage hit about 210 a fountain of coolent (mostly water) came out of the surge tank. This maybe just boiling water hitting atmospheric pressure... :confused My check engine light is now shinning and I am at my wits end:cry . The check engine light is probably because the vacume hose from the opti got to close to a pully... lost vacume and tah dah instant light. However, after fixing the vacume line the light didn't turn off:confused .

I am going to pull the pump to check the impeller (sp?). If I can't find anything with the pump I am starting to think head gasket. I just changed the oil. It looked dirty but not like chocolate milk. The oil is from last season with just under 3000 miles on it. I can't find any water in the oil I drained. I do see steam and water from the tail pipes when I first start it but when it warms up it disapears. I also replaced the cap with an aftermarket cap from Autozone. Good/Bad :confused

Any other thoughts?? I can't drive it any place to get it checked out. How much do Dealerships steal from me for headgasket replacement??

I am mostly venting here but also looking for any other lead... I am almost ready to drop my insurance and start ripping into my other project... my 79 blazer.

 

[3TT3V]

If you are at your wit's end, I would recommend having it flat-bedded to the nearest (good) Dealership and have them diagnos it. Having a head gasket changed as a quess solution to your over-heating problems will cost a lot more than a flat-bed tow charge. just my 2 cents.......and goodluck. I might add that it appears you have reached the point to where you are so POed that you may become counter-productive in your efforts to find the problems. Step back, deep breath. ..........again, goodluck.

 

[Robertwav1]

Did you confirm that the radiator is good? I believe someone asked you if the radiator was hot. I may have missed the reply on this. If you have or can borrow one of those little infared heat thermometers....it would be perfect to check for hot or cold spots on the entire coil of the radiator. It could be blocked causing your coolant to boil right away. The rad should be hot if your coolant is! This means all accross the entire coil. Wish you luck....take it a day at a time!

 

[96Holly]

OK deep breathing done...

Thanks for the continued tips. Ya I think the flat bed will be pulling up in my drive soon. I am going to pull the pump. If I can't find anything there then I am going to call around for towing quotes. However, I will submit a kitchen pass for the cool infared heat thermometers. I can always stock the tool box with a new tool.

Anyway thanks for the tips.