so two nights ago while i was letting my car warm up it began overheating really bad. So i decided i needed to get home as quick as possible. The heat rose and fell with acceleration and my heater blew cold air on hot, which is supposed an indication of low coolant in my car or so ive read.... So when i got home i checked the coolant level and it was low. So i added coolant. Now the needle never reaches the middle it hangsout above the first notch and the regular running temp (in the safezone but still, it never did that before)and my heater still blows friggin cold air. This all just randomly happenedafter a whole week of driving in acouple inchesof snow. I usually let my car warm up fully. sometimes ill let it get to the first notch and take off if im late. But i never just turn it on and go. I atleastgive it 5 to 10 mins and last time i changed my oil, which was about three or so weeks ago the oillooked fine. ApparentlyI do have random leaks here and there according to the two mechanics who changed my belts and serviced my tranny...but i dont have puddles of any fluids on the ground. I also read that overheating could be caused by incorrect timing. Which it also shows signs of butI am having that addressed this week.

Long story short.1. could i have lost pretty much allthe coolantdue to a cracked head? 2. Now that i refilled the coolant what could cause it to not reach fullrunning temp? 3. why the heck does my heaterstill blow cold air? (this ones important kuz its december and cold as hell lol).

If anyone has any ideas id appriciate some advice, Thanks.

 

check your heater core, sounds like it could be clogged(for the cold air situation).Do you have a coolant leak anywhere ?You might want to check to make sure the temperature sensor is accurate, try using a heat gun

 

Sounds like the thermostat is sticking.
If it sticks closed she will overheat and stuck open she won't heat up enough to work the heater.

 

I dont have any leaks on the floor, and to the best of my knowledge the only things leaking are my tranny and my headgasket but like i said, its not on the floor. As for the heatercore, i thought it might be that, just havent gotten around to checking because of the other problems and im just worried about getting my car to run right first lol.

As for the thermostat, if it got stuck in any position would that cause me to lose pretty much all my coolant? I mean its worth a try since tstats arent very expensive and easy to repair.

Thanks for your quick responses guys.

 

a stuck t-stat wont cause you to lose temp, it just wont open to allow the coolant to flow thru the engine and help it warm up and get to operating temperature, you could always take it out and do the boil in watel r trick to see if it opens.But id say with a leaking head gasket that could cause issues but more with overheating,and you normally will have a sweet smelling exhaust and it will look like steam when youre driving

 

ok well my exhaust is unusually white while im driving but i thought it was just kuz of the cold air. I havent smelt it though.

 

yeah the coolant may not be getting in the oil but it is getting burnt and passed thru the exhaust

 

so cracked head sounds reasonable? or could a bad head gasket cause the coolant to some how get in the combustion chamber?

 

The only thing you don't know is which came first, the overheating or the low coolant?
Your thermostat could have been stuck closed, causing the engine to overheat, possibly warping the head, and causing the leak. Either way, coolant disappearing internally is a sign of troubles.

 

White smoke out the exhaust you are pumping water through the engine because the headgasket is leaking coolant into the cylinders.
If you are lucky maybe just a headgasket is in order but more often than not the tin top motors get warped heads when overheated.
Only pulling the head off and having a machine shop check it out will tell.
You could try putting a straight edge on the head to see if it is warped and if not look close for cracks but it's better to have it checked at a shop.