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Hey ETCGers. I have a concern that my head gasket in my 2000 TL might have gone. Keeping it short and sweet(no pun intended :P), here is the reason for my concern:
In November when I returned from college I went to start it, I didn’t see coolant in the radiator, and the over flow bottle was nearly empty.
Fast forawrd to 12/15. I give it an oil change and top the radiator off. (Turns out it wasn’t empty as I had thought.)
When I changed the oil:
-Oil seemed to be normal dark color (Had about 2k on the oil)
-No water or coolant came out when I pulled out the drain plug.After I topped off the radiator I went to bleed the system. I turned the heater all the way to hot and put a funnel on the radatior. As the car was running, 3 bubbles came up, and that’s it. I figure it was just air in the system. As I revved the car up to 2,000 RPMs the coolant level slowly started to rise in the funnel. It didn’t shoot out or rise at a drastic rate. I didn’t see any oil mix with the coolant.
The car does not:
-Over heat
-Have a sweet smelling exhaust or heat
-Have an amount of white smoke that is concerning
-Have discoloration on the inside of the radiator or oil capThe car has moist exhaust like any car would, but it is does not produce an excessive amount of moisture, and when holding my hand over the exhaust to let the moisture collect, it is simply clear water. It does not have a green tint or sweet smell.
My concern is this:
-The coolant level rose (All be it very slowly) as the car was running at 2,000 RPMs.
-The radiator level was slightly low, but no external leaks were evident.
-This morning the overflow bottle was lower than yesterday, and the car has not been run since yesterday afternoon.
-Sometimes the car idles rough.I want to go to advance auto parts and rent one of those combustion gas tester kits. I’m sorry I don’t have pictures for you guys, I know they would be appreciated. I’ll try and see if I can get some.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
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By your description sounds normal. When the coolant went
low.Air was introduced. As air is burped coolant will be
drawn in. Keep topping off the over flow for a couple of
days.check it every morning.If after a week the coolant level
does not stabilize.Then different action may be needed.
here is a procedure to speed up the bleeding procedure.Thank you for your reply. I will keep my eye on it. I followed ETCG’s video to bleed the cooling system. The 3 or 4 bubbles I saw looked like the ones in this video: (This is not a video of my TL fyi)
I’m glad you came to use because you have zero evidence that you have a head gasket issue. Also that engine is not known for head gasket issues. The amount of bubbles coming out of the radiator is not important so ignore that part, it also proves nothing really. The main thing as pointed out in the video I made about bleeding the cooling system is to make sure that the cooling fans cycle before you lower the RPM. If not you’re not sure that the thermostat is open and allowing coolant to pass through. FYI aftermarket thermostats make bleeding the system much more difficult in my experience.
I’d recommend you bleed the system out EXACTLY as shown in the video and take things from there.
Keep us posted.
Thanks for responding. I have yet to give the cooling system a proper bleed mainly because I’m still looking for a no spill funnel like you have, Eric, but none of the auto parts stores seem to have them right now. I’ve been running the car periodically to keep the battery charged, and the car does not overheat, nor is there any discoloration under the oil or radiator cap. I will let you all know the results once I get my hands on a proper no spill funnel. Thanks again.
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