Temp guage suddenly hits the roof, all other lights on the dash come on?

[matthugie]

Well, the idle is sorting itself out, it fluctuates three times when coming to a stop but then levels out and will idle right where it is supposed to. The real problem is that it is now overheating. There is still no sign of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil, but there may be some leaking from the water pump (there was some liquid earlier, but it didn't leave any white marks). So from what I can tell, best case scenario - water pump is blown, worst case scenario - the head gasket is blown and the head cracked. Is there any real way to check for anything other than just ripping the thing apart?

[SpecM]

does the car blow white smoke/steam? it the coolant system super-pressurized afer a drive, or just kinda pressurized?

I say do a tb/wp change, change the oil/plugs, set the valves, fix any vacc leaks, and see where that gets you.

[matthugie]

does the car blow white smoke/steam? it the coolant system super-pressurized afer a drive, or just kinda pressurized?

I say do a tb/wp change, change the oil/plugs, set the valves, fix any vacc leaks, and see where that gets you.

I didn't notice any white smoke/steam and didn't check the coolant system for pressurization after my last drive, so I'll try an afternoon drive and check on those.

As for the second part, that is my problem. I have neither the tools nor the knowhow to pull that off on my own. I have someone very knowlegable, efficient at working on these cars, and has the tools that are needed willing to help me with this as a friend, but they are in Asheville. I don't know if I can make it there in it's current condition. If I can make it 60 miles or so AAA will cover the tow, so I may end up just going balls out and trying that with the heat on full blast revving over 3k to keep the aux fan on. Also, if the engine bay is that dismantled how much more work is it to check the head? Thanks.

[matthugie]

Well, after going through everything again, there is no smoke, and the system after a drive is pressurized, but I don't know if it's any more than normal. There is still some play in the hoses if that means anything. I have tried running the car with the resivoir cap off with the heat on to try to get some bubbles out of the system (per another thread on here), but the car still overheated a bit. I turned it off before it got much past noon. I know that you can/are supposed to bleed the system from the thermostat, but I'm not familiar with that process so I haven't attempted it. I have also come to conclude (I was told and I read it) that the ground for my temp sensor is loose and needs to be tightened as well. I'll work on that tomorrow as I get time. So I guess for now it's a waiting game, thanks to everyone for their input, but if you have something else to throw in, feel free. Thanks again.

[Julien]

turns out the extreme temps from when the car overheated caused the thermostat to fail. Car is back to being normal now.