it was pulling air towards the engine instead of pushing air to the radiator.
this is what it's supposed to do. if it pushed air towards the radiator, airflow through the radiator itself would come to a standstill as you were going down the road.
how old is your radiator? you may need a new one or to have the old one cored at the least.
in addition to the thermostat, check the 'vacuum' hose that goes from the radiator to the inlet of the water pump. there is supposed to be a coil steel spring in there to hold the hose open. if the hose has gotten soft or the spring has deteriorated, the water pump will suck the hose shut and you won't have any water flow.
so, check your thermostat and hoses first. they are cheapest and easiest to get too. after that, i would get the head gasket chem test and then take the radiator to a radiator shop to be checked out.
I have a question regarding ways to find out if my head gasket is blown
there is a diagnostic chemical test kit that will tell you if you have combustion gases in your radiator water. i know NAPA has them, don't know about the other parts stores. that's the simplest way.
it won't tell you if you've got a leak into an oil passage or a leak between the oil and water passage but those are fairly rare and have other diagnostic signs anyways.
if the head gasket is shot do i need to resurface the heads?
maybe so, maybe no. i'd just buy a gasket and try replacing it if the gasket is blown.
it wouldn't hurt to retorque the head that's doing 'fine' right now while you're at this..
Last edited by bob k. mando; 01-13-2009 at 08:06 PM.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
Vladimir Lenin
Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)
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