Is this a blown headgasket?

[Black1987Stang]

Ok, its got the stock rad, new thermostat, new water pump. Its got an abnormally amount of white smoke coming from both tailpipes although the passeneger was spitting out more than the driver side. It will over heat while driving, when you shut it off the upper rad hose starts making a bubbling sound and after like a minute of this it will boil over into the reservoir tank and make alot of funny noises like a theres alot of pressure in the system or something. I figured after you turn it off that last few seconds some pistons will be going up onto tdc and since the ignition is off it cant fire so then the compression finds its way through the bad head gasket and throught the cooling system , and into the upper rad hose, and after enough of this pressure is built the rad cap would let it boil over into the reservoir tank.Does this make sense or could there be another culprit for the overheating, whitesmoke, more in one side of the other, magically disappearing coolant.Oh yeah also if it's running with the rad cap off after like 10-20 seconds it will start overfilling and bubbling out and squirting all over. Any ideas Thanks

 

[red93fox]

a classic sign of a blown head gasket is coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant... if your oil looks like a diarrhea color then it's the head gasket. i'd check there also. but from the sound of it your t-stat may not be opening all the way causing pressure and overheating. i could be wrong though. check the coolant/oil definately though.

 

[green]

ya sounds like a head gasket but it may not be. i would fill the rad up with water and then start the car let it idle and keep pouring water in the rad untill full, when full let it idle with the cap off so all the air will get out of the system, if its still overheating i would have it pressure tested to see if its the head gasket.

 

[Black1987Stang]

Thanks for the replies. we just stripped it all down and the gasket was bad, not that bad but there was a little rip from a water passage goint into the cylinder, it is the side that was spitting out the more white smoke so this should be the problem.the oil and coolant were normal colors, and if i had it running with the rad cap off in like 10 seconds it would start overflowing and start bubbling and shooting out all over, so it was hard to bleed all the air out. Ill see tomorrow if the new gasket kit solves it. Thanks

 

[jaackal]

i had the same situation when i put my intake on and i put the gasket on the housing then the thermostat and it was burning antifreeze and leaking like a sive out the t-stat housing