Overheating Help (I'm stumped)
you should pull the spark plugs and see if any of them are clean from the coolant if in fact you do have a head gasket problem 
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Alright guys since I have 85K miles on the car I decided to just throw on a new water pump, flush the radiator and call it preventitive maintenance if it didn't solve the problem. I just finished letting the car warm up and then drove around for 40 min and the temp gauge never spiked into the red, coolant didn't bubble out of the overflow, but when I popped the hood and put my hand on the radiator cap it felt like the coolant was bubbling inside.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions, it's starting to look like a head gasket. I'm going to pick up a leakdown kit tomorrow. I haven't really been running the car hard lately beyond the occasional wot run, and don't see some of the other symptoms, but do seem to have more smoke than usual coming out of the exhaust (not a ton though), car has also seemed slightly sluggish off idle. Could this also be causing me to burn an excessive amount of oil (1 quart per 1000 miles)?
Thanks for everyone's suggestions, it's starting to look like a head gasket. I'm going to pick up a leakdown kit tomorrow. I haven't really been running the car hard lately beyond the occasional wot run, and don't see some of the other symptoms, but do seem to have more smoke than usual coming out of the exhaust (not a ton though), car has also seemed slightly sluggish off idle. Could this also be causing me to burn an excessive amount of oil (1 quart per 1000 miles)?
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Alright guys since I have 85K miles on the car I decided to just throw on a new water pump, flush the radiator and call it preventitive maintenance if it didn't solve the problem. I just finished letting the car warm up and then drove around for 40 min and the temp gauge never spiked into the red, coolant didn't bubble out of the overflow, but when I popped the hood and put my hand on the radiator cap it felt like the coolant was bubbling inside.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions, it's starting to look like a head gasket. I'm going to pick up a leakdown kit tomorrow. I haven't really been running the car hard lately beyond the occasional wot run, and don't see some of the other symptoms, but do seem to have more smoke than usual coming out of the exhaust (not a ton though), car has also seemed slightly sluggish off idle. Could this also be causing me to burn an excessive amount of oil (1 quart per 1000 miles)?
Thanks for everyone's suggestions, it's starting to look like a head gasket. I'm going to pick up a leakdown kit tomorrow. I haven't really been running the car hard lately beyond the occasional wot run, and don't see some of the other symptoms, but do seem to have more smoke than usual coming out of the exhaust (not a ton though), car has also seemed slightly sluggish off idle. Could this also be causing me to burn an excessive amount of oil (1 quart per 1000 miles)?
are whitish and clean, as compared to the other ones. That will be the cylinder where the gasket leak is. Either way, as I said before, there is only ONE way to get air into the system, bad head gaskets. And if coolant boils, air is getting in. Coolant is around 20psi when at operating temp, the only thing can can beat that is cylinder pressure pushing air into the coolant. Any other type of coolant system leak would have coolant squirting out of that leak onto the ground making a puddle somewhere or gettinmg into the crank case.
Let us know what the leakdown tells you.
Removing the heads isn't that bad either, did mine in the driveway with a friend in about 2-3 hours getting them off, then about 2-3 hours putting everything back together. Get the heads resurfaced for sure before putting them back on.
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I'm going to pull the plugs tomorrow morning and if they look normal then I'll do a leakdown test. It's definitely starting to look like a blown head gasket, not really what I had planned for this weekend. If I'm going to be pulling the heads it's going to be very hard for me to put the stock ones back on..or maybe I could just do a cam instead 
I'll keep you guys updated.
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I'm going to pull the plugs tomorrow morning and if they look normal then I'll do a leakdown test. It's definitely starting to look like a blown head gasket, not really what I had planned for this weekend. If I'm going to be pulling the heads it's going to be very hard for me to put the stock ones back on..or maybe I could just do a cam instead I'll keep you guys updated.
I'll keep you guys updated.Also, when you first start the engine in the morning when its bone cold you should get a little coolant spray out of the tail pipes. Because when you shut the engine off the coolant system is around 20psi, while the engine cools some coolant should seep into the cylinder where the gasket is blown and fill a little into the cylinder. When you first start it cold it should spray out onto the ground. Right after it starts give a little rev to get it through.
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also, after you let the coolant get to operating temp and the t-stat opens, with the radiator cap off...rev it at the TB and see if you see bubbles coming to the top. If you do its a guaranteed head gasket issue.
Also, when you first start the engine in the morning when its bone cold you should get a little coolant spray out of the tail pipes. Because when you shut the engine off the coolant system is around 20psi, while the engine cools some coolant should seep into the cylinder where the gasket is blown and fill a little into the cylinder. When you first start it cold it should spray out onto the ground. Right after it starts give a little rev to get it through.
Also, when you first start the engine in the morning when its bone cold you should get a little coolant spray out of the tail pipes. Because when you shut the engine off the coolant system is around 20psi, while the engine cools some coolant should seep into the cylinder where the gasket is blown and fill a little into the cylinder. When you first start it cold it should spray out onto the ground. Right after it starts give a little rev to get it through.
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I pulled the plugs and most of them look black and light brownish color, almost like light clay. #7 was the worst looking at was the only one with oil on the threads and the tip looked like wet clay. Here are some pics of a couple of plugs. Let me know what you guys think. I'm guessing #7 is responsible for my excessive oil consumption.
The order of the plugs below from left to right are 1, 2, 7, 8
The order of the plugs below from left to right are 1, 2, 7, 8
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I pulled the plugs and most of them look black and light brownish color, almost like light clay. #7 was the worst looking at was the only one with oil on the threads and the tip looked like wet clay. Here are some pics of a couple of plugs. Let me know what you guys think. I'm guessing #7 is responsible for my excessive oil consumption.
The order of the plugs below from left to right are 1, 2, 7, 8
The order of the plugs below from left to right are 1, 2, 7, 8
The bubbles coming up in the radiator is a direct tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket.
Now the moisture coming out of the pipes is another good sign of blown gasket(s). But also remember, moisture can also form inside the pipes overnight depending on what kind of weather you have (like dew), so when you start it up that moisture blasts out the back too. If its enough you can smell the coolant if thats what it is.
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#8 looks like the one that might have the gasket leak, its cleaner than the rest. Thats the sign you look for with a blown gasket. Lets see the other 4 on the drivers side. But they all look pretty good. If you have a cylinder thats got an oil burning issue, the plug for that cylinder will usually look utterly horrible when you take it out. Especially if its from a valve seal leaking down onto the hot plug after engine shutdown. It will get all caked up. If the oil burning is from a bad ring the plug will always still look pretty good as oil cannot travel upwards after shutdown to get on the plug.
The bubbles coming up in the radiator is a direct tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket.
Now the moisture coming out of the pipes is another good sign of blown gasket(s). But also remember, moisture can also form inside the pipes overnight depending on what kind of weather you have (like dew), so when you start it up that moisture blasts out the back too. If its enough you can smell the coolant if thats what it is.
The bubbles coming up in the radiator is a direct tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket.
Now the moisture coming out of the pipes is another good sign of blown gasket(s). But also remember, moisture can also form inside the pipes overnight depending on what kind of weather you have (like dew), so when you start it up that moisture blasts out the back too. If its enough you can smell the coolant if thats what it is.
I didn't take pics of all the plugs cause 1,3,5 look alike and 7 was worse and then 2,4,6 look alike and 8 was a little different. I wouldn't say any of them looked "clean", just browner than others.
Here is what I did/figured out today.
-Exhaust has no smell of coolant (even put my face down there)
-Coolant has no bubbles when the engine is running at operating temp with cap off
-Pressure tested new and old caps, new one is fine, old one held no pressure
-I'm an idiot since I used the old cap last night after putting in the new pump
-I'm guessing the above reason is why the coolant boiled with the new pump
-Did compression test on 3,5,7 since I couldn't get to the others, they were 180,180,172 respectively
-Put in new plugs and let it idle/drove around for 40 min
The temp gauge stayed at 210 the whole time like it normally does. When I got home I left the car running and didn't hear or feel any boiling coolant, nor did any come out of the overflow.
I'm still not 100% sure it's fixed and haven't ruled out a head gasket problem yet. At least I think the compression test ruled out a drivers side head gasket. Everything appears ok now, except the burning oil. I suppose my problem could have been a bad cap and a failing pump. After putting in the new pump last night I immediately noticed better throttle response and power, maybe a sign the old one was going??? I'll put some more miles on it tomorrow and post an update.
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I just stumbled across my old thread and realized I never updated it with the outcome. Turns out it was a combination of a bad radiator cap and water pump. I tested the cap and it was bad, but my problem still wasn't fixed with just a new cap. I then put on a new pump and the problem has been fixed since.
Just a note. I also tried using the old cap and new pump...which did not work. New cap AND new pump was the only combo that fixed the problem.
Just a note. I also tried using the old cap and new pump...which did not work. New cap AND new pump was the only combo that fixed the problem.
I would agree with this. When I first bought my car I was having boiling coolant problems. tested switched and changed everything to no avail. A couple months later, low and behold, my water pump siezed. Replaced that, lowered the fan temps a little and never had a problem sense.
I'll update also and say that I did a flush, got a new pump, and got a new cap. I was ready to do a thermostat and then i realized one of my fans was unplugged! That did it!
