Bad Head Gasket?

[Gryle]

Hi again been trying to locate a leak in my radiator and cannot find one my coolant has not dropped since u stopped driving the car alot but I'm getting alot of bubbles in the coolant reservoir while bleeding. It's like a fizzy can of pop in the main reservoir and bubbling alot in the bleeder constantly. The fluid level is going so high it's nearly overflowing (now it is from bleeder and fan just came on level dropped a little) can't smell anything but coolant though. Has my head gone do u think? Or just a really bad air lock? Thanks

Martin.

[Gryle]

Getting alot of gurgling from heater matrix is this normal it's a bit squelchy sounding and quite loud really starting to suspect head now as had overheating and coolant explosions in the past surely an air lock would go with proper bleeding procedure

[TomdeGuerre]

Martin, there's quit a few posts about Celicas overheating and experience owners have had. Seems the rad core is bad for leaking on your model, have you had the covers off underneath to check it? Bear in mind that if there's any leaks there not only will it allow water to leak out but air to leak in. When your engine heats up, the hot water expands into the expansion tank and when the engine cools down it's supposed to draw the extra coolant back in. But if there;'s an air leak anywhere in the system it will preferentially draw in air and give you problems. i've also seen it mentioned that somebody had a faulty cooling fan which wasn't going to full revs to provide the necessary cooling flow.

You get more rtouble with some cars with cross flow radiators because of the low frontal area and you have to jack them up to try and bleed the system. I expect you've tried all the tricks in the book. Best of luck with it, hope you find something rather than the dreaded gas...... no i won't even mention it.

[Gryle]

Yes I jacked it up and raised the expansion tank above the head on the bonnet catch . I had steam from the exhaust until I drove up a 45 degree hill for a mile at 70 then it was just exhaust gas so I'm not sure still. Is fizzy coolant a head sign? I took the covers off and can't see a leak anywhere not that you can see alot with the support in the way I'm wondering if the airlock is blowing the water from the expansion tank under load and that's making it look like a leak as when standing it's not lost a drop it's very frustrating and the cars not worth enough to take it to a mechanic that will probably tell me it's the head even if it isn't...

[armoredfist2002]

You may have a air lock in the heater matrix from the sounds you describe. The gen 7 celica is a bugger to bleed, and takes ages to get all the air out.

And I would have said your radiator is on it's way out especially if the car is 10 years old or older.

I haven't heard of a headgasket going on the celica,

[Gryle]

Do you know if the procedure to get the air out of that is the same or is there another bleed screw somewhere else? I've bled the system twice I even did the rev intervals for the full 20 mins and I'm really annoying the neighbors :-)

[TomdeGuerre]

An old trick that used to work was to use a garden hose to flush the heater out and get rid of any airlocks. You need a lot of hands to disconnect the two heater hoses first and blank them off at the engine side so the water doesn't run out. Attach garden hose at suitable pressure (flow) and get it flowing cleanly through. Then reconnect the hoses one at a time as quickly as you can to minimise water loss.

By the way, is your heater system OK? Does your Hot selection open up the control valve all right? If that valve is even prtially stuck you'll never get the system bled right.

I still think you need to get your system pressure and suction tested.

[Gryle]

Ok I will take it to be looked at for leaks it's hard to spot them in that cramped engine bay and the radiator is pretty well covered. I saw traces of coolant on the support when I took the under cover off but I don't know if that's from spitting when bleeding. I get some heat from the heaters now, didn't get a bit before and can't remember if I ever did as I got it in the summer. I will get the head tested too next week. It's expensive in coolant to keep replacing bits but I may just take the whole lot to bits and see if I find a leak in the radiator or water pump over this weekend. Really suspecting head now though with all the fizzing looks just like a good pint of lager but doesn't smell bad just smells like vaporized coolant.