steelsoldiers Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Hi Guys, This is my first post on the new board. It's really nice! The good news is I FINALLY got my oil life light reset, woo-hoo! I'm an idiot, I was holding down the wrong buttons The bad news is I am still having an overheat and heater problem. I replaced my thermostat, topped off my fluid levels, checked my fluids to be sure it's 50/50, but still no dice. I was talking to my brother about the problem and he suggested that I might have a head gasket going out and I think he might be right. My Dad was driving the car before me and he had a heater hose blow on him on the interstate. He pulled over pretty quick, but it still may have been an opportunity for an quick overheat that may have damaged the head gasket or warped a head. The other thing that worries me is when I shut the car off after one of the overheat episodes, you can really hear it bubbling back into the overflow tank. Well, right after one such episode I pooped the hood, pulled off the overflow cap and looked down in the tank. There didn't seem to be any coolant coming in, just air bubbles. They smelled a lot like exhaust gas too! Have any of you guys blown a head gasket or pinholed a cylinder and had syptoms like these? I must not be too bad because it doesn't happen all the time every time. Any thoughts? Thanks. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loucar1 Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 I would check the rad. cap to be sure it's in good shape before thinking about blown head. Could be it's not holding pressure. Lou 94 Seville STS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted January 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 Ooops, sorry, typo in the first message. I already had a new thermostat in it. I meant to say that I replaced the cap with a brand new 16lb cap. When I first got the car I replaced the thermo, the upper and lower hoses, and the two upper heater hoses that I could get to. It still has the original heater core and heater hoses hooked to it. The car only has 38k on it! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 27, 2004 Report Share Posted January 27, 2004 I really hate to say this but it sure sounds like a bad head gasket The bubbling is exhaust gasses getting past the head gasket into the cooling system, hence the exhaust smell. Those are the exact same symptoms I had on an '81 eldo. I traded that one rather than deal with it. I was getting tired of that diesel anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelsoldiers Posted January 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the input Larry. I have been thinking about trading this one in too. It also needs a master cylinder, a gas tank, a fuel pressure reg., and the ABS valve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 Chris, make sure that you have the correct cap, the cap you need has a dime sized poppet valve in the middle of it that seals under pressure and allows the radiator to suck in coolant out of the resouvior as it cools. If you have the correct cap, make sure that the poppet valve springs up into place (defaulted closed), otherwise hot coolant will be forced into the resouvior. Good Luck, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 That's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the input Larry. I have been thinking about trading this one in too. It also needs a master cylinder, a gas tank, a fuel pressure reg., and the ABS valve Well, what Mike says makes sense. That could account for the bubbles but not the exhaust smell. My last car was also a '92 and I replaced the master cylinder. Not a big or expensive job. FPR likewise. Not sure about the tank but I think the ABS unit is quite expensive. Headgaskets would be the biggest expense if that is indeed what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 28, 2004 Report Share Posted January 28, 2004 You are definetely loosing coolant somewhere. That's why your heat is not working. The bubbles might just be the coolant boiling over. I would do a compression/pressure test to make sure about the head gasket. I would also check for leaks around the water pump as a bad water pump could be causing your problems. You might also have a crack in one of your end tanks, again a pressure test would tell if this is your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjhat Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 check your tailpipes for moisture after one of these overheating episodes. Moisture points toward a head gasket. Also, check your engine oil for coolant. Check your water pump for pressure by emoving a hose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAUL T Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 I would put the ABS valve on the bottom of the list. I have had my ABS light on now for about 3 years. I have never missed the ABS. The car stops just fine without it. The light is the most aggrivation. Besides it is hard to do those power slides with ABS working. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 You really need to do some diagnosis before jumping to the conclusion that it is a head gasket... Rent a cooling system pressure tester and add some UV dye to coolant. Pressurize the system to 15-16psi. The UV light will quickly pinpoint the leak if it is an external leak. Keep it pumped up to 16-16psi for 3-4 hours and then remove the spark plugs. Have a helper crank the engine while you hold a rag over the spark plug hole. If there is coolant on the rag, then you have pinpointed the problem to the head gasket. You will need to repeat this for all 8 cylinders. Another method to check the head gaskets is to pressurize each cylinder to 120 psi with a spark plug/air hose adapter. With each cylinder at TDC (valves closed) there should not be any bubbling in the radiator. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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