Slicer1989

First all, I don't wanna hear the crap. My car has a bad head gasket and I know it, I can't afford to fix it RIGHT this minute. coolant is NOT mixing with oil, though a little oil IS Getting into the coolant.



anyway, I had the suggestion of running it without a thermostat temporarily as it will reduce temp and pressure, thus not pushing coolant out or into the overflow tank (And not letting it back in) it would probably be only a month, maybe 2 months max. I live in GA where it's summer the average temps during the day is 85+ and at night between 65-75.

I know alot of people say its terrible on an engine, but would it be okay for just a few months until I am able to get all the parts to fix it? This is my only car, My only way to work...

ezone

You can run without the stat if you wish, of course you probably already heard all the reasons to not do it that way.


And removing the stat probably won't help anything, because:

It will continue to push liquid out of the radiator into the reservoir and probably continue to overflow the reservoir, and after it's pushed almost a quart of liquid out of the radiator it will probably still overheat.

Slicer1989

So basically nothing I Can do it at all to even limp it along? Oh well I guess.

ezone

When these blow the head gasket, at least in the early stages,

Low liquid level in the radiator is the usual reason they end up running hot and overheating.

So.....Depending on how rapidly it is pushing liquid out of the radiator......Fill the radiator up long before it gets low.

Slicer1989

I was going over a month with daily 50+ mile trips before it did, then it got down to every 2 weeks, then once a week, now it seems like even when I top it off and bleed it, it still likes to start to run hot again.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

when it starts overheating... too late, it's gonna go at any moment
while it is still only pushing coolant out of overflow, mine lasted for more than 6 months and i still drove from QC to TN. never overheated, but it was loosing coolant, so i was pouring in new coolant.

Slicer1989

It seems to only overheat when it's low on coolant, I drained all the old cloudy coolant, cleaned the thermostat up and refilled it, idled for 45 mins with revving between 2500-3500 RPMS, temp never budged, drove it around, temp never budged.... it seems to only do it once it's pushed out enough coolant to be low... otherwise, when it's full, it runs perfectly fine.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

then keep filling. check everyday

Slicer1989

I also notice that the softer I drive (meaning keeping the rpms low, and not running it hard) the less coolant it pushes out... Eh, I guess i'll just keep a few gallons of water in my car.