blown head gasket? Options

[jvb6806]

i had my radiator flushed at a local place up in the CHI area a few weeks. i noticed a bit of coolant on the ground in the days following. i assumed that it was just coming out of the overflow beacuse they filled it up too much.

i was on my way back to school last weekend and i made a stop to visit some friends. when i got back to my car there was a large puddle of coolant on the ground and the resivour was empty. i drove to a NAPA and picked up some coolant and started back towards bloomington. i stoped at a gas station on my way back and when i got back to my car the water temp gauage was almost to the top. my turbo timer was still running. i turned the car off and let it cool down. i turned it back on and let it warm up and it started creeping over the 210 mark. i drove it around a bit and the temp went back to were it should be so i drove back to B/N w/o a problem.

as long as my car is over 30mph or so my temp is fine but when i stop at a light for more than a few mins the temp starts climbing but drops right back down when i start to drive again. when i turn off the car there is a gargling noise that i assume is the coolant. and my fan is working all the time because it is hardwired to the accsesory.

i picked up new thermostat but i am guessing that isn't the problem. fearing that i blew the head gasket. anyone ever have this happen to them?

*yuk it up haunter even with a blown head gasket my car is still faster *

[KOU In3]

i had the gurgling sound in mine before and it was a bad cap, the rubber was deterorated and didnt seal very well

Ditto here. We've had three cars at the shop with similair symptoms. Swapping/replacing caps and in one case just tightening the cap down all the way cured the problem with these.

If the rubber seal isn't sealing against the housing, as the system pressurizes, coolant will flow past the cap seal and out into the overflow tank.

Hopefully that's all it is in your case. If there is insufficent amounts of coolant it could also account for the high temp at idle. At 30mph there is enough airflow through the radiator to allow it to cool even with lower coolant levels.

Hopefully this is all it is in your case as well.