Guys:
I am experiencing a potentially serious problem with my daughters '89 SE. Daughter came home and told me her engine bay was "smoking". Today, I checked the dipstick, oil level is fine and the oil looked OK. Some watery gunk on the top of the dipstick. I was thinking blown head gasket. A friend suggested I check the PCV valve. It looked pretty old and was very gummed up. Started the car and it ran fine, no smoke, etc. Pulled a spark-plug from each cylinder bank, they looked fine but pretty old. (dry, white, no oil, etc.) I figured might as well try the new PCV valve and while I'm at it install new sparkplugs. After the drive home, there is smoke coming from the engine bay. Popped the hood and found the engine is very hot and dumping boiling coolant into the recovery tank. This is what my daughter must have seen last night. Checked the temp gauge, sure enough now in the top of the "Hot zone". Top radiator hose is hot, which is usually not a thermostat problem. Look in the radiator, it's empty! Poured in nearly two gallons of coolant/water mixture which is pretty much the system capacity. No visible leaks anywhere. Fans come on in the proper sequence. So now I am convinced either the head gasket is going, or the block is cracked. The car has 115k on the motor and up till now didn't use or leak any oil or other fluids.
Guess I'll just keep an eye on it daily and see what happens. Didn't change the oil or install the new plugs, figured what is the point. I would appreciate the feedback of anyone experiencing a similar problem.
Thanks,
Al Jones
Hagerstown, MD

 

I dont know, but since you said its dumping boiling water into the water resovior then that would mean that the radiator cap is not pressurizing at the radiator. So when the water temp gets too high, its dumping lots of water into the resovior and then the resovior is dumping the water out (I dont know if its possible but this is what sounds like whats happening). So I would suggest that you go and pick up a new radiator cap (only a couple bucks, get the nissan part if you can). When you get it make sure it fits very snug. When I replaced mine I had to squeeze down the metal tabs on the sides so that it would have a tight fit (which is necessary). I used a vice to squeeze down on the metal tabs. good luck

 

The hot engine may have been due to low coolant rather than a blown head gasket since you don't know how the engine was functioning with a full coolant system. (it came home empty) Condensation on the dip stick is cause for concern... take the vehicle to a mechanic and have him 'sniff' the radiator for combustion byproducts. This is good diagnostic for blown head gasket.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Good suggestions. I will definitely pick up another cap today, rule out the cheap problems first! Daughter is driving the car today. Tonight, I'll check the other four sparkplugs and the coolant level. Guess time will tell. Probably the last time the coolant level was checked was in July when I flushed and refilled.