94 corsica possible head gasket problems help needed
 

Hi have a 94 Corsica with a 3.1 v6, I have been fighting small coolant leakage problems for a very time . I Have fixed just about everything that can leak on it but my coolant pressure tester says there is still a very small leak the leaks the pressure out very slowly over 10 to 20 mins time. Now I notice that when it's warm water gushes out of the radiator cap if left uncovered. I always thought that's a sign of a bad head gasket and exhaust gas getting into the coolant system and pushing the coolant out. To test for this I bought one of those chemical testers with a chemical that changes color when exhaust gas is present in coolant system. Didn't work the water gushes out so fast the tester didn't have time to work even if I drained the coolant bottle first. could anyone give some advice on how to know if you have head gasket problems or if this is normal on these cars? Thanks Tim

Use the coolant pressure tester to test for head gasket issues. Put it on, start the car and watch the pressure gauge. If it bounces around a lot probably head gasket issue.

10-20 minutes over time isn't much of a test. The pressure tester will not hold pressure forever.

Be careful removing it - you've just depressurized the system and well, it will squirt back out.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't notice the gauge surging like that. Right now it's not running but I'll check it when I finish putting in the timing chain set. Thanks again