Rep Power: 0

so my car started voerheating the other day and i noticed that steam was coming from the raditator and the radiator had a crack so i replaced that and now it is overheating again?? i was thinking maybe the thermostat is bad because im not low on water ever i just overheat??

 
Rep Power: 812

is the radiator fan turning on? how long did you drive while it was overheating? could have blown the headgasket. are you burning coolant at all?

 
Rep Power: 0

it depends on where im driving and the outside temperature but usually not very ;ong. about 30 minutes. and yea im burning coolant i think.

 
Rep Power: 812

30 mins is very long, i was hoping not more than a minute. okay well sounds like the head is warped and the head gasket blown. so when you have the gasket changed, be sure to have a machine shop examine and test your head for warpage and compression. they will prolly have to shave the bottom to make it flat, and then you can reuse it. if youre only burning small amounts of coolant, it may not be urgent to get done right away, but def something that needs to be done before it causes other problems.

 
Rep Power: 0

Well since a head gasket will cost me an arm and a leg is there any other possibilities? or anything else i should try before?

 
Rep Power: 253

how about trying to fill it up and getting all the air pockets out. Does sound like a head gasket, but I think you want to be 100% sure before you decide it is. I reccomend you go out and get a "combustion tester" or something along the lines of that. You can always take it to a close mechanic and have him do it for you. Basically they test your coolant in the radiator to see if you have combustion gas (CO2) inside it, if you do you have blown the headgasket, if not you need to look elsewhere for your problem.

Edit: Did you change the radiator yourself? If you did, did you make sure no air was left in the system?

 
Rep Power: 812

yeah air in the system could cause overheating. and possibly coolant loss as it gets sucked back in the radiator.

 
Rep Power: 313

Just remember next time, if your overheating... pull over and stop as soon as you notice.. otherwise you cause damage!