75 cruiser

2 years ago, I seized the engine after the radiato cracked and the thermostat failed. After it cooled, it started and ran fine, but would lose water, slowly. No white smoke from the tail pipe and no water in the oil. After a few days, the water level stopped dropping and the car continued to run fine. Recently though, it has been overheating and getting worse. But, it's strange how it shows up. I can start the car and let it idle for an hour, and the temperature gauge reads normal. On my commute to work though, everything is fine for the first half hour, at any speed, on the interstate, until I reach the city, and traffic slows. That when it starts to overheat. In the morning commute, I can control the temperature by running both fans (AC on) or by getting back up to speed. But, during the eveing commute, once it starts to overheat, it is difficult to keep the temperature under control. The faster I go, the hotter it gets (makes sense I suppose). I figure that if I have enough speed, the fans shouldn't be adding much benefit. Also, when going uphill, loading the engine,the temperature increases quickly. This seems to indicate a blown HG. I tried blue devil yesterday. Ran the engine at idle for the 50 minute period... no problem. But today, there was no improvement. I think as I continue to drive the car, it's just making the gasket problem worse. So, I plan to pull the heads to find out for sure. BTW. the T'stat has been removed (so I could use the blue devil) and both fans work. Oh yeah, it's the 3.2 TL. with 300,000 miles. Engine runs great. still very good performance. What doesn't make sense to me is the lack of any typical blown gasket evidence. Could the leak be so small, that only combustion gas can pass into the cooling channels, but no water can get through? Regarding blue devil, and similar stuff, if water is not being forced through a gasket break, can the sealer do any good?
Hey, thanks for reading this long post. Any advise will be appreciated. BTW, if the HG is gone, should I also have the head(s) shaved?

hondafreak513

I'm having close to the same some times... I am losing coolant but doesn't show any where.. But with the radiator cap off and the car running there will be tiny bubbles coming out the system non-stop... This is giving me signs of a blown HG as the cylinder is pumping air into the coolant passage.. But I have to wait to save up for a HG kit and Timing belt Kit... Hope this helps, by checking if you are getting constant bubbles out the cap..

pro_found973.2TL

yes u have an advanced blown head gasket. thats why the blue devil didnt work for u...unless u didnt use the blue devil 100% correctly. did u wait for 24 hrs to drive the car?? u shouldnt have taken out the t-stat. was it the pour and go?? was there clean coolant before u put it in??? anyways..seems like its more advanced and the only obvious way to fix that is to tear it down and put a new gasket, machine the heads, new TB/WP and u will have a new TL practically. good luck. sorry for the BHG..trust me i kno...they fuckin suck!!

75 cruiser

Thanks Pro-found. I followed the blue devil instructions exactly. It says to remove the T'stat, then replace it after the engine has cooled down following the test drive (just after the 50 minutes at idle). It does not require a 24 hour wait. Maybe you are thinking about the K&W or Barsleak stuff? I couldn't be bothered to replace the thermostat. In fact, I prefer not to use one. With the 3.2TL, the coolant temp is the same with or without it. In fact, if the thermostat hadn't failed 2 years ago, I wouldn't be in this situation.

The car is worth repairing. even with 300,000 miles, it will do a 100 easilly and it doesn't use much oil. In fact, I think most of it is lost from the old rear camshaft seals, and a few other places. Another reason to do a top overhaul.

Yes, deinitely will replace the water pump and tensioner.

Thanks.