It goes like this: Driving along... look at temp It's Past the Hot marker... 3 minutes later.. it's back to the middle... then later again back over the line...

I put Coolant in there.. it maybe helped for about 20 minutes... then back to the old problems... Also noticed that when i open the Coolant box thing... It's like a murky brown liquid... any idea what to do?

 

You might have a blown head gasket.

And over heating would lead me to think that either the: thermostat, water pump or fan clutch is DOA...

Brown liquid should not be in coolant at all LOL, and the only culprit I can think of is oil and the common way oil gets in there, is via blown head gasket.

 

I definitely second what NiSmO Knight said. Sounds like a blown head gasket.

Does the level of coolant drop noticeably when driving?

 

Also you might just need to bleed the system, if air gets in there it can cause the same problem, especially the heating up and then it being fine and then heating up again as that air pocket cycles through.

 

Air pocket wouldn't really explain the brown gunk in the coolant though...


would it?

 

So it probably is a head gasket problem... I know head gaskets are relatively cheap.. i'm seeing em for 30 bucks.. Does anyone have a guide to replacing them? if so it would REALLY help.

 

it isn't super difficult, get yourself an FSM and you're good to go. there are a few detailed write-ups if you just google it, but here's a quick summary of what you're facing:

drain coolant, pull spark plugs, line up #1 piston at TDC, remove valve cover, disconnect intake/exhaust manifolds, disconnect vacuum lines and any wires, remove the head, replace the gasket, and work backwards to put it all back.

i left out a lot of stuff there, but you get the idea.

 

I think Kaiser is right about the air pocket theory, it would explain the cycling of the temp going up and down... but I still think he has a blown HG with the brown gunk in the coolant.

 

Yup yup. Makes sense.

Be sure to properly bleed your system after replacing your head gasket. I remember someone on this forum explaining the correct way step-by-step. I'll post the link if I can find it.

 

Yeah, I remember that thread... I thought that was sticked?

 

So any updates? Were any of us right?