In a message dated 5/1/06 10:10:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
triumphstag@gmail.com writes:
<<Within 2 miles of driving, hot water is pushed into the expansion bottle and
over flowing. The radiator cap is not blowing The temp gauge goes into
HOT. >>
Sounds like a head gasket or cracked head if the car overheats in 2 miles
from a cold start. The best way to test is to pump air into each cylinder
and
see if it air/water comes out the radiator when the cap is off.
To do this remove all spark plugs and the distributor cap. Turn the engine
until the rotor is pointing at # 1 distributor contact. ( You will have to look
at the dist cap for the contact ) If you don't have a distributor look in the
spark plug hole and turn the engine until the piston as all the way up.
If you have timing marks line the marks to 0.
Remove the rad cap, it would be a good idea to place a rag over the opening
to deflect water splash is the head gasket is extremely bad.
Use a hose with a spark plug thread to fill the cylinder with compressed air.
Be careful, if the motor is a few degrees on either side of TDC the motor
will rotate. I add air slowly and look for the belts to move. If they do,
shut
off the air I note the direction and turn the motor the other way.
If air is coming out the airfilter or exhaust, that cylinder is between the
exhaust and intake stroke. Either move to the 2nd cylinder in the firing order
( for a 4 cyl) or rotate the motor 1 turn and try again.
Look at the radiator and see if bubbles or water are coming out. For small
leak it might take a few minutes but usually bubbles show up rapidly when there
is a problem.
Continue on with the other cylinders.
A compression tester hose can be used for the above test if the check valve
is removed from the end of the hose. There are fittings sold called air hold
fittings, there resemble a spark plug and are used to hold the valves in place
when the springs are removed.
A rad gas check tells you combustion gasses are reaching the coolant. A
compression gauge won't tell you much unless the gasket is blown between 2
cylinders. A air test tells you there is a leak and what cylinder it is coming
from.
You then can remove the head and inspect the gasket / head for the exact
failure point.
Harold
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