coolant bubbles

[turbo buicks]

ok my car usually runs 200-210 degrees at idle. i looked in my coolant resevoir tonite and i saw a bunch of small bubbles. is this a blown HG or just my high coolant temps? btw, the oil looks fine and the car runs good.

 

[MARINES185]

sorry to break the news but you probably have a blown
head gasket. your coolant in your resevoir will never get
hot enough to bubble. one quick check you could do is with
the car cooled off remove the radiator cap then start the
car. watch for bubbles and don't let the car get to warm.

 

[turbo buicks]

is there any other reason the resevoir could have bubbles in it b/c i checked it right after driving it and maybe the coolant got shaken up a bit to make bubbles.

 

[MARINES185]

shaking of coolant will make bubbles but if its makin bubbles
while you aren't movin then theres a problem. that why
checking the radiator would be better.

 

[turbo buicks]

i checked the radiator w/the cap off and the engine on and after a while i saw little whgite bubbles start to appear. is this a for sure sign of a blown HG and why dont i smoke white smoke out the pipes?

 

[MARINES185]

really small almost like fiz bubbles are probabaly just the
coolant circulating. is your car using coolant? is it down on
performance? only sure way to tell is with a leak down test.

 

[turbotoyz]

LITTLE WHITE BUBBLES...

if the gasket is blown a little it can pressure the water side but i would check your cap for proper operation i had a cap that would let the pressure by and the car ran 190 degrees with a 160 stat and i changed the cap to a new gm style and i run 165 all the time and i had bubbles in the coolant jug

 

[turbo buicks]

hmmm, interesting. i dont have any of the other symptoms of a blown HG so i think im giong to keep an eye on the oil and coolant fluids over the next few days and see what develops. oh and welcome to the forum turbotoyz

 

[turbotoyz]

THANKS FOR THE WELCOME

but i have been a member for over 2 years for some reason my other accounts suddendly stoped working and the moderator had me make a new account my old name was turbotoy but thanks again

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by turbo buicks
hmmm, interesting. i dont have any of the other symptoms of a blown HG so i think im giong to keep an eye on the oil and coolant fluids over the next few days and see what develops.

If you do have a blown head gasket and running with antifreeze, by the time you see evidence of this in the oil, your bearings will be ruined.

 

[shadow84]

checking for blown head gasket

Most quality parts houses have a block test kit w/special fluid that changes color with the presents of hydrocarbons in the coolant its very easy to do this test we test all overheating cars at my shop with this test before making repairs this will help to determin your bubbles as possible gasket leak or just normal system operation

 

[TurboDave]

I would also be very concerned as to why this car is running so HOT!! Crumby radiator??? When was the last time the radiator was "rodded" out? With a 160 thermostat, and a descent radiator, you SHOULD NOT be running that hot!!!!

 

[turbo buicks]

ya the temps are weird. to my knowledge the radiator is an all stock, no recore, 115K+ mile unit. nick micale told me he has never seen any stock raditor flow more than 50% efficient so maybe thats my problem. i should probably get a recore one. how much is it and what should it get? i do have a 160 Thermostat. maybe i should get one of those coolant fan switches and always have it on high like my friends camaro has, should i? i will also try a new cap b/c i got some silly thing w/a latch on top from discount auto and its kind of hard to take off and doesnt really help anything. i looked in my coolant resevoir today and the level looked as if it had gone down but i then realized the car was on a slant and the coolant was all in the front of the resevoir. if my bearings get ruined the car wont be drivable correct? i will also check into that block test kit. also, would a compression and/or leakdown test give me an accurate answer as to whether or not my HG is blown for sure???

 

[turbo buicks]

looked at coolant resevoir again today but this time the4 car was level; and it is lower than i was. lots of small bubbles. definately a HG??? when the car uses up coolant then where does it go? no white smoke coming out my tailpipe and no smoke in the engine bay. what the heck i have no coolant leaks on the ground. where does it go?

 

[strikeeagle]

Tiny bubbles...

 

[JToups386]

Originally posted by strikeeagle
Tiny bubbles...

Ya' know,,, I was thinkin' that same song, but could not bring myself to post it...

Anyway, back to the real issue. Nick is certainly right about the bearings. As for the "not smoking" theory, well, you could have a small pinhole leak, that is only allowing enough coolant/water into the cylinder to provide a nice "steam cleaning" effect, but not be visible in the exhaust as of yet, due to dicipation throughout the system. However, if that's the case, it will only get worse and more noticeable over time. As Nick mentioned, it will lead to major trouble!

Have you pulled the plugs and looked to see if they show signs of coolant on the ends or an appearance that they have been "steam cleaned"? No-one wants to learn of a blown HG, per the labor involved, but yet we all know it's a common occurance on these boosted apps, with only 4 bolts per hole! Especially on a higher mileage version.

I bought one of the cooling system pressurizers a few years ago, for $109, at a high priced jobber parts location. You should be able to attain one cheaper at one of the mainstream parts retailers. If you keep the car, it's a tool you'll use many times...

Bottom line is, it does sound like a blown HG per your data, or one that is soon to really blow. Try a compression test, and check the plug condition in the process. It should give some signs.

 

[turbo buicks]

after driving the car after its heated up good but not running it hard, and you pull the oil dipstick out and a bit of smoke comes out of the oil tube is this an indication of a blown HG or does the oil normally smoke when it gets hot???

 

[JToups386]

Huh? Never seen or heard of that one before... I can't offer any input for that symptom.
However, I revert back to my original suggestions of testing. They should offer some tell-tail signs.
Keep us informed...

 

[toofastforyou]

REPLY TO "TURBO BUICKS" ...

turbo buicks, the only SURE, fool proof way that I know of to check for a blown head gasket without removing the heads, is to send some compressed air into each cylinder,leaving the radiator cap off, while looking into the radiator. If you see bubbles in there, while the cylinder is under pressure, you got your answer! If no bubbles, look somewhere else... That's it! Hope this helps!

'Bye, Claude.

 

[Lee Thompson]

Heres how my son and I found which cyl. was leaking. Get the car up to operating temp. Remove one spark plug at a time, restart car, which ever one stops the bubbles is the BAD hole. Just in case you have a crack in head or cyl. wall and gasket looks fine at least you will know which hole to look at. His was blowing by the gasket over to a head stud, by the threads onto the water jacket. A little odd, but true. Quite possibly we used the wrong thread sealant the first time. Good Luck