pressurizing coolant

[rd070707]

hi guys im not sure if the head gasket on this 205 is away or not, no sign of oil in the coolant, and oil level was bang on.
started the car from cold fired up right away, nice and smooth not misfiring.
took rad cap of and let it run for a few mins, no bubbling or anything.
after a hard 10-15 min drive the top pipe wasnt rock hard and the temp guage was below half way
popped the rad cap and a bit came out but im not sure if the level was correct to start with but it hissed slightly then started to run out the sides but not really bubbly / spraying

dont want to have to take the engine apart right away as i cant afford it so need to make as best a judgement as possible

[Tom]

I think headgasket is the only thing that can pressurise the coolant to that degree.

[puglove]

Prob because it has no coolant in it and its just got water in, water boils at 100* and courses the system to pressurise

[rd070707]

It didn't look like it was boiling, just a bit poured out as I opened the cap, but then it seemed to stop after a certain amount

[Puggie]

Silly question but are you heaters hot or tepid ?

[rd070707]

not sure about the heaters tbh...its hard to explain it didnt bubble over or anything just kinda run out, the coolant was a browny colour and no sign of oil in it. and the car was started fairly cold and idles perfect no smoke

[Ruan]

I'd say that's fairly normal, just general system pressure when the system is overfilled...

Bleed it properly and check the level of the coolant when cold - heat it up and then check again. Should be fine.

[rd070707]

Hard to know if it was overfilled, and head gasket job is beyond me

[Ruan]

Just do as I said, as long as the heaters stay hot, it's not SPRAYING out the rad cap when it's running... It's probably fine - pressure is normal to build since water expands as it gets hotter - also pressure is meant to build in cooling systems as it is more efficient at higher pressures, it also causes water to boil at higher temperatures, meaning you're less likely to boil water off in local hot spots.

[Puggie]

I'd say that's fairly normal, just general system pressure when the system is overfilled...

Bleed it properly and check the level of the coolant when cold - heat it up and then check again. Should be fine.

Yeah this was my next post. If your are not sure about it having the correct coolant level. Do a coolant change that way you have started to eliminate the easy stuff. and take it from there

[rd070707]

I don't know about the heaters tbh id need to go back an see it to be sure