my car developed a problem tonite. it idles at around 3300 "sometimes"...like whenever i clutch in it will go to 3300rpm on its own. also, the engine overheats easily...like if i go beyond 2500rpm the engine will begin to overheat. the coolant vapor is coming from the engine block and not from the rad pressure cap SO what im guessing is that the thermostat is wack isnt sending coolant to my rad at all...which would explain hte overheating and maybe the intermittent high idling.

help! i need to fix this asap.

 

Pull your thermostat out and test it.

 

bad thermostat

 

u guys dont think the headgasket might be blown?

 

Are you displacing any coolant from the radiator(pushing coolant out of the radiator and overflowing the reservoir)? Are you spewing white smoke out your exhaust? If not, I would wager thermostat before I would consider the hgeadgasket. Thermostat is an easier fix too, just pull it out, and suspend it in a container of water with a thermometer. Heat up the container while watching the thermometer and see when the thermostat starts to open, if at all.

 

well its actually eating up coolant if anything...the coolant vapor is coming out of the area around the exhaust header..and its definitely coolant...white smoke and sweet smelling.

im not sure if its barfing coolant into the reservoir...BUT when i turn off the car i can hear gurgling for a couple seconds...

and i guess one last thing....how hard is it to change the thermostat? do u need to drain the entire system to pull out the thermostat? see, i only have simple tools (wrenches, screwdriver) and no garage either...so im basically doing this out in the cold parking lot. so if the thermostat can be pulled out without doing anything else, i might just do that first.

oh yea, this is an 85 corolla gt-s im working on

 

You need to drain the coolant and pull the lower radiator hose. The thermostat housing(where the lower rad hose connects) is just bolted on. You unbolt it and the thermostat comes out. If coolant is spewing out of the area around your header, then your headgasket may be leaking from there, in which case you would lose a lot of coolant, but you may not necessarilly see any smoke coming out the exhaust.

 

Headgasket, pull oil cap...look like milk choclate?

 

ill be checking that, the water pump, and the thermostat in a couple hours!

 

welp, it looks like im pooched. either headgasket or a crack on the block somewhere