blown headgasket?

[ttz334me]

My apologies in advance for such a long question.

 

 

I just went down to Alabama where my Z has been sitting for about a year. I put a new battery in it and it started right up. Everything was the same as when i left it, except after a short drive up the road and back i noticed it was overheating pretty quick. I bought a new thermostat in hopes it would be something minor like that. No change; it was still overheating...not consistantly as sometimes it would remain at normal temp. I filled up the radiator, and noticed a leak under the car. I tightened up the bottom radiator hose and that fixed the problem pretty good, however it was still overheating. My second assumption was that the radiator needed to be flushed and bled. Again, no change even after doing this. The mixture was 50/50. A nissan tech said it was probably a blown headgasket. There is no milkiness or mixture of any type in the oil.

 

I am wondering this: is it possible that the head gasket is in fact blown, abeit a small pinhole, allowing air to get into the coolant lines thus causing the overheating issue? Also, could this be why i thought there was a boost leak (i did not make a boost leak tester for lack of time)? The characteristics are as follows: The car will still make a small amount of boost ~2-5psi, does not spool very quickly at all. The blitz sbc id II is at the same setting it has always been for low boost.

 

 

Any ideas?

[ZMANALEX]

Your lack of boost and overheating will not be connected.

 

I also doubt if your head gaskets have blown.

 

Is the car loosing water and then overheating or is it overheating and then loosing water.

 

Due to the coolant leak from the bottom hose perhaps you may now have an air lock and the system may require bleeding.

 

Is your temp gauge accurate ?

 

The head gaskets will not blow because the car has been sitting for a year.

 

Also are the electric fans working ?

[ttz334me]

The lack of boost pressure and overheating were a blind, desperate stab in the dark

 

The last time it was driven it held the coolant/water better than before, but overheated. Driving civil at under 3k rpm, and letting the car idle for about 35 minutes did not cause the temp to rise either. The coolant system was bled twice. I had to come back to new york so i wasn't able to get a second opinion sort-of speak regarding the accuracy of the temp gauge-but then again i hadn't thought of that:blush:

 

The fans work properly.

 

Sad because i was surely looking forward to throwing the beast on the dyno while i was home. But better safe than sorry i guess...i'd hate to have to warped heads on my hands lol. I would love to have this issue resolved before i ship the car to the UK!!