coolant issues

[88gt]

about a month ago, my thermostat kicked the bucket and i replaced it. i did a full system flush, put it all back together and it has been fine since then. bu toda i noticed the front passenger side fender well was wet after i got to work. i checked it when i got home and the resevoir was slam full and bubbling up with air i guess and the radiator was low on fluid WTF???is it possible the heater core is screwed up, i still have good heat? need help here!!!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i would do a compression test on the motor or pressure test the cooling system. bubbles/overflowing reservoir usually means a blown head gasket leaking compression into the cooling system.

 

[88gt]

wel, that isnt what i wanted to hear, but ill do a compression test tommorow and see whats goin on. its too damn cold for me to want to piddle around outside. so i should test every cylinder and see which one or ones is lower and if they are inconsistant, it is most likely a head gasket?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a blown head gasket will show up as one (sometimes two) cylinder with considerably lower compression than the rest.

 

[88gt]

mmm...well, i guess my weekend is planned out of me...if the head gasket is the guilt party, would there be symptons other than a bubbling coolant resevoir. like loss of power, running rough, weird exhast note, anything along those lines?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the bubbling coolant could be your only symptom. if it is a blown head gasket, it will usually get worse over time. coolant consumption, white smoke from the tailpipe, coolant in the oil, a miss under all driving conditions, etc can/will all develop.

 

[88gt]

allright, i guess im catching it early on then..what is the normal psi for cylinder?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

there is no "normal" compression numbers. the big thing is to look for consistancy between all 6. ideally, id like to see more than 120PSI or so for performance and fuel economy reasons.

 

[88gt]

allright, thats gives me what i should be shooting for. ill post when i get it all figured out. thanks wicked

 

[88gt]

ok i did the compression test. the high was 164 in the # 1 and the low was 148 in # 4 the rest were 150+/-. my question now is...if i didnt pick up anything on a compression test, could it be that the pressures under driving conditions, being higher and more constant are creating the pressure in the coolant system via a slightly warped head or something?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

it could be that the leak is just too small to show up on a compression test. id test the cooling system to make sure it holds pressure next.

 

[88gt]

thats next on the list, i hope i dont need new heads, but we'll see

 

[bumbleb77]

If you can rent one at the local parts store. Go get a cylinder leakage tester and put it on the one with the lowest compression and see how much you're losing.

 

[88gt]

id have to do that to every cylinder cuz they all averaged around 150, what ever is goin on, im catching it so early that there is no definitive answer from a compression test. but thats a good idea, i was trying to think of someone i know to borrow their guage, but iforgot about renting one..kudos

 

[dangeranger88]

MOST LIKELY a blown head gasket. Exact same thing happened to my 3.0, heads were cracked too...the hell of it is that the guy took the thermostat out, and it ran great until I got a check engine light for engine running too cool...so i put a thermostat in and viola! No thermostat. After the install, the reservoir bubbling/boiling started to happen. Pressure test confirmed the heads blown. Thank the lord for CE light, and warranty