Rep Power: 0

Hi,

I just drove my car for the first time in two weeks and it started overheating and not blowing hot air. Pulled over and saw a bit of coolant at the bottom of the radiator, and a basically empty reserve tank. Limped it home and lifted it up, put more coolant in it, and idled it for a while. The radiator fan came on when the temps climbed and I couldn't see any coolant leaking, but temps kept climbing and heat still wasn't blowing so I shut it back off. After it cooled down I removed the radiator cap and turning the car on, no coolant or air came out, which I read means it's (probably hopefully) not the head gasket. The top radiator hose gets hot, the bottom one doesn't. Any ideas on what the issue could be?

In case it's relevant, the car doesn't have AC, and I replaced the thermostat about a year ago. It also has a minor oil leak. No idea if the radiator has ever been replaced (doesn't look like it).

Thanks in advance for any help

 
Rep Power: 222

Make sure there is no air in the cooling system

 
Rep Power: 518

That means it is absolutely the head gasket


No heat is probably a huge air pocket in heater core.
Is there an external coolant leak?
If not.....The root cause of mysterious coolant loss is usually a failed head gasket.

 
Rep Power: 0

Update:

Filled it up with coolant and bled it, no leaks I could see. Wasn't overheating and the heater worked. Went for a test drive and gave er the beans, still no leaks and coolant is still topped up, everything looks good. Exhaust smells very slightly sweet, but I don't spend a lot of time inhaling exhaust gases so I'm not sure what it smells like normally 😂 I'm gonna keep some coolant in the car and pray to Jesus that whatever is going on, it's happening slowly enough that it's not a problem for the moment, and I'll take it to a shop when I can.

 
Rep Power: 367

have them do this test.
chemical tests in coolant will not diagnose a headgasket breach in these engines.