On the edge of the read for maybe 2 minutes...

Wouldn't be a bad idea to have the head magnafluxed while you have it off.

It's just a trail rig and I get it out when the snow comes. At this point if I could get it to quit overheating I would use it as it is for now until after winter. My guess is either headgasket or a valve considering it has a rough idle but cleans up and runs smooth at 1700-1800 and on up rpms.

I've tried to bleed the cooling system a couple times now. I'll take the radiator cap off start it and fill it continously let it bubble once it stops bubbling fill it some more and keep repeating. I have yet to get it to continously bubbly like it's gotten all the air out.

I repeated this process for about 10 minutes and just drove down the road 2 miles, the first mile it was great on the return mile it started to heat up and jumped up in between 210 and the red... I pulled up, left it running, slowly opened the cap and relieved the pressure and stuck the garden hose in the radiator and of coarse it immediately started to drop back down.

[QUOTE=cherokeeyed;2080280]It's just a trail rig and I get it out when the snow comes. At this point if I could get it to quit overheating I would use it as it is for now until after winter. My guess is either headgasket or a valve considering it has a rough idle but cleans up and runs smooth at 1700-1800 and on up rpms.

[quote=88jee;2080656]You mentioned before that your oil appeared milky, that means that coolant has reached the lower end of the engine = not good. If you continue to drive it coolant will keep getting to that area of the engine corroding the components down there, you will end up with a spun bearing or some other catastropic lower end failure. The best thing to do if you are sure there is coolant in your oil is to drain the oil and let the car sit until you can afford to fix the head gasket. Instead of head gasket you will end up needing an entire engine rebuild if you continue to drive it like it is. Sorry about the quote above I accidently posted submit response and hadn't put in my response yet .

I was just going to swap a motor in it but I decided I'll just pull the head tomorrow and hopefully have it ready for Friday night.

Do you have any mixing of antifreeze and oil? If not try going to Autozone and get a block tester.....its a loan a tool and it will tell you if you have exhaust getting in your antifreeze. If exhaust is present then you gonna have a good amount of work ahead of you. I have heard guys replacing the head/gasket in 5 hours but I would recommend taking a full day to do it. Don't wanna rush something cuz your gonna be ripping it all apart again....

Yes, I had tons of water in the antfreeze and more adding to it anytime I started it.

I went ahead and pulled the head off this morning, no too bad. Took maybe 2 hrs, I left some things on that a lot of guys are pulling off (ac, ps, etc) the gasket failed between 2 and 3 like I had thought after doing a compression test on it over the weekend.

I'm going to pickup a complete head gasket set, has the valve cover gasket, intake manifold, water pump etc. And will hopefully have her running tonight.

Let me know if it works. I am having overheating issues but mine happen at highway speeds....really annoying. lol

Unless you have the time and patience to do it all again, I'd highly recommend checking that head to make sure it hasn't warped due to the temp change. An increase in compression is reason enough to have the head machined while its off anyway.

Get it sealed though, and you should no longer have an idle issue. I'd bet that was from water entering the 2&3 cylinders and causing a misfire.

The heads at the machine shop now getting a valve job. It wasn't cracked or anything, Im not sure if it was warped but they resurface it anyways when the do the valves. The motor never made any noise previous to pulling the head so i'm hoping and praying that the bottom end is okay.

We are focused on the damaged head, but anyone know what his original issue was?
Not the thermostat, not the radiator, not the water pump. Or was the head gasket the culprit the entire time?

Which radiatior DIY write up did you use? I want to replace mine!

I'm also still wondering what was causing the overheating?

As far as the radiator goes, I just pulled it and replaced it. It's pretty simple, pull off the grill etc and it's all right there. Don't lose any of the stuff the the trans cooling line on the bottom if your an automatic. And make sure you bleed it.

The radiator is not accessed thru the grille. There is a number of bolts holding the metal cross member (radiator support) that the radiator sits directly below. Take pics with your phone (for reference) and remove the fans/shrouds, cross member, detach upper/lower rad hoses, recovery bottle hose and tranny fluid lines, etc. (if auto tranny). The old rad lifts straight up.

Any ideas on what would have caused it to overheat?