will a bad head gasket make my 89 maxima overheat?

Question

i already took out the thermostat and running it with out it and flushed the radiator and it had good flow untill i dove it more than 20 min, it boiled out threw the over flow.... what to do

i have taken it to a shop and did a coolant test and it showed my head gasket was starting to go but not a leak big enough to mess it up , i put head gasket sealer in , and flushed it and took out the theremostant and refilled it

when i flushed it there was flow , i havnt checked it after it over heated this last time, i think there may be a block the top hose was hot while the bottom hose was not as hot

i used bars leak head gasket sealer , is the bars liquid glass any good

the fans kicked on when i turned on the AC or heat but i dont think they where on when the AC was off could it be the fans, and they are electronic thru the ecu ,. or the temp sensor

Answer 1

Yes, a bad head gasket will cause the engine to overheat----- compression gasses mix with the coolant causing the water pump to cavitate and causes the cooling system to over pressurize and blow out the coolant. But, running the engine without a t-stat will also cause the engine to over heat. This is done because removing the thermostat will cause the by-pass not to close---and the coolant won't flow to the radiator. I would get a combustion gas checker--and test the head gasket for leaking. At that point if the blue liquid turns yellow--then i would do the head gasket.

Answer 2

you are allowed a 10% variance between the highest and lowest cylinder. i will assume that these reading are a dry test only. now go back and squirt a little bit of engine oil in each cylinder and see what kind of increase you get. if they all balance out at that point , then the rings are bad. it does not look like a head gasket to me. the ones that i have seen, you get two neighboring cylinders that are both very low like 20-30psi in the above situation. or you get a single cylinder that is low like i mentioned and every thing else is normal range. a bad water pump would not have any immediate effect on compression, and if it did it would be more noticeable and across many cylinders as for the steam that could be a sign of a head gasket, yes, or a cracked head or cracked block. are you sure that it is steam and not smoke from burning oil or a plugged pcv valve?

Answer 3

Yes it could be a head gasket In the morning remove your spark plugs ans see if there is water on any of them. Another thing I had once was some metal had blocked the water pipe near the water pump and this was preventing water flow . After a few nminutes look in your filler hole in the radiator and check that the thermastat has allowed the water to circulate or maybe there is a blockage.

Answer 4

No a bad head gasket will only make oil leak, which can drip on the hot manifold and make smoke, but the car wont overheat. Try RedLine Water Wetter, that stuff is a good product to reduce the engine temp. Its a radiator additive that actually works.

Answer 5

i own a repair shop,and yes a blown head gasket will make one heat up in no time,what its doing is putting pressure in to the cooling system on it,but it will heat up,if its doing it bad enough to push it out the coolant reservoir you need to have it repaired driving it will make it a lot worse on it,you only have one real good choice here, fix it or park it,you cant drive it like that ,it will break down on you ,and probably ruin whats left of the engine also,have it checked and see if it can be fixed,good luck,i hope this help,s.

Answer 6

I don't think is the head gasket.

have You check the speed of the fan motor?
isit working the fan motor?
how old is the water pump.?

what do You call overheating?. 200 degrees?

let me tell You,boiling out through the overflow ,does not means overheating.it is normal at running temperature of 180 degrees is the moment thermostat opens. and the exccess of coolant goes to the reservoir.

Answer 7

go to a radiator shop and have it pressure checked also see if air bubbles are in the coolant when u start it cold. the head gasket also keeps coolant in the water jacket area. your are heating up the water and it expands out the radiator into the overflow-.mike @ dana radiator shop

Answer 8

yes a bad head gasket will surely make any car overheat. if it is not changed quickly the cylinder head will warp then the vehicle lose compression. The head will have to go to get machined again.

Answer 9

Danny boy two words tech school hell yes a bad head gasket can make your car overheat I hope you aint busted your head either way hope yer handy with a wrench or have good bank cause yer car be hurtin

Answer 10

yes a bad head gasket will cause your car to overheat. and it is rather expensive to fix. ex. 97 cadillac 2250 for parts and labor. go get the car checked out.