car over heating

[Morton]

88 hatch 1.2 ... overheating ... steam pours out off the front grill its not leaking that i can see ... a slight build up off hard cheese on the expansion bottle cap
any help advice..

[Jon_nova1]

head gasket

[Morton]

are you sure ???theres no creamy stuff on the rocker cover cap ..

[Southie]

It depends if the head gasket has gone on the water ways which would give cheesey deposits on the header or if the oil ways go then the cheese is usually on the oil cap.

[Jon_nova1]

well for overheating the only real causes are

water pump
thermostat
fan not working
ignition too far retarded/advanced
not enough water
head gasket

theres not really alot to go wrong with the 1.2

[Morton]

ohh ok ... ill be getting a new gasket next week then as the head is gettin skimmed.. culd any1 tell me how you know if the timing belt is about to go ???

[Southie]

Just change it when you do the head gasket.

Just a thought when did you last flush out the water system. If you've got steam coming from the grill then the radiator may have a small hole in it from all the water pipes being blocked.

[Morton]

ive only owned the car a few weeks so never :L

[Southie]

Give it a flush out first then before changing the gasket. It may just have a load of dirt a rust in the system. If it starts doing it again and the pipes go rock hard then it could well be on it's way out. Double check that the radiator has no leaks though.

[brucer]

out of the grill? be a leaking radiator, drop an egg in there.......

dont let it over heat too often as it may warp the head/block. you could get the cooling system pressure tested for leaks at a garage or seal the expansion bottle with your mouth and blow.pmsl.