Radiator, Head Gasket, or Both?
 

So, I've been running my del sol + b18b without a radiator fan for quite some time and haven't had any problems until a few days ago.
Those couple days ago, I've been experiencing check engine lights, constant overheating, sometimes bubbly radiator fluid, and puffy white smoke out of the muffler, and the reservoir connected to the radiator is even boiling.

I've narrowed it down to a couple options:
-Radiator fan definitely needs to be replaced
-Head cover gasket is blown and coolant is leaking into the engine (coolant in the oil = white smoke?)

Should I bring it to a shop and have them fix everything? ...Or should I just do it myself? I know the gaskets are fairly easy to access

Sweet Jesus, FML.

It sounds like the classic signs of a blown head gaskets.

Why didn't you replace the fan?

A head gasket replacement is mostly labour, if its' difficult to get to, then your looking at a more expensive job.

Head Gaskets themselves are about a couple of hundred.

The job, if sent to a mechanic, is fairly expensive, a grand at least I think.


You can attempt to do the job, but its a lot to do.

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And......Install that fan back.......It'll save you a lot of trouble again in the future.

I didn't replace the fan mainly because for the longest time I didn't know that it was broken, and I thought, "Well, if I've been running my car with no problems, I should be fine til I get some money to fix it."

I guess now's the time I spend some dough. From the looks of it, replacement of a head gasket is mainly a lot of disassembling and reassembling.

Know any cheap mechanics? :)

Definitely a headgasket problem with radiator fan not working to boot.

Doing the headgasket yourself isn't too much of a problem. True it's mostly assembly disassembly (but so is every other part on a car) but the main part is, cleanliness and attention to detail. Make sure that old gasket is completely scraped off otherwise you'll be doing the head gasket again.

Also make sure you remember to get the head sent out to be machined.

Without any discounts look to spend roughly 200-300 on parts. 100 for machine work. And roughly 5 hours to get it in and out.

If you've got the time, don't let it scare you, nothing feels better than wrenching your own car.

If you need any help feel free to PM me.

Everything true in the above post, but 5 hours for a someone that is fairly confident and somewhat experienced with working around cars.

Sweet info guys. I'll probably DIY sometime soon, but I'll take it to my mechanic to see what the problem is before I take a crack at my block ;)

I'll PM you if I have any questions, lex.

Sooo... It turned out to be a leaky radiator. How couldthat posibly cause overheating?

I presume it's the loss of pressure required in the radiator to circulate the coolant? Idk!
Posted via RS Mobile

not so much lost pressure but, lost coolant. without coolant, there's nothing to circulate. having pressure will help too though

I forgot to mention that it wasn't leaking very badly.. I never really had to replace the coolant whenever I checked it.

You may have a leaky rad but you have also overheated your engine its an almost certainty that your head gasket is blown.
With a loss of pressure in your rad due to the leak the coolant is more prone to boiling with it boiling the cooling system looses efficiency (bubbles of steam doesn't conduct heat away as liquid coolant does).
If you like you can bring your car to our shop for a quick diagnosis and leakdown test of the cooling system and headgasket.

Sounds good, Phil. I'll take it to you guys once I'm finished slapping the new rad in for reassurance.

cool

A blown head gasket will leave a dark smell in the radiator. And you will have high back pressure coming though your radiator cap. Take car to a radiator shop they will place a detector which is a blue liquid inside a "bulb" if the liquid turns yellow you have a leak.

^ Already been solved. Thanks for your input anyway.

Already replaced the rad. Need to get a thermostat.

FYI, I found VAP Auto Part prices to be competitive.

They are located all over, one on clark and frances, commercial drive, Richmond, etc

^ Sounds good! I usually get my OEM parts from Burnaby Auto Parts. Extremely cheap shit!
Got my OEM rad for $80 bucks, and a thermostat for $10.

good prices
i hope, for your sake, that you now understand the importance of maintaining the engines temperature. especially now that it's become more vulnerable due to the fact it's been subjected to high temperatures

Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. A hot-water radiator consists of a sealed hollow metal container filled with hot water by gravity feed, a pressure pump, or convection.