1991 MR2 overheating...NEED HELP!!!

I have a 1991 MR2 3SGTE 2.0 Turbo. My problem is overheating. I have flushed the system, rotted the radiator, changed several hoses, changed the thermostat, bleed the system with hoses on both the lower (on the rediator) and the upper (near the firewall) bleeder ports. It still overheats. I drive around 20 - 25 miles and everything seems good, then the temp gauge rises. It goes back to running tempature. after about 5-10 more miles the gauge starts to rise. I noticed that the heater was blowing hot, then it started to blow cold just before the gauge starts to rise until it is running hot. There is no oil in the coolant, I pulled the plugs and there is no coolant residue. I can not detect a leak, but just as it overheats and I turn off the engine, I hear a LOUD burst of steam. When I open the engine compartment steam is blasting out of the overflow tank. I can not see steam coming from anywhere but the overflow tank.

head gasket.

fix it before your head goes soft. i ran mine like that for a while. gasket was gone into 2nd and 3rd cylinders. then the head went soft and made the the prob worse cause it wouldn't torque down properly. new head.

the heater goes cold cause it's the first thing the water runs out of when combustion gas starts blowing it out the overflow. then with less water the engine overheats. the problem just gets worse cause then you have gas in the coolant system and need to re-bleed it.

possibly cracked head or something but most likely just gasket if you do it soon enough.

I was kind of leaning toward the head gasket. The reason I was confused is because I am not getting steam from my exhaust. However, when I remove the fill cap I see a bubble every now and then but the water level never goes down. I had a mechanic do a block test, he said that there is something that he puts into the water that is blue and so supposed to turn pink if exhaust is present, it never turned pink but he said it lightened up little. There is some stuff that is supposed to correct the problem at this website... http://www.rxauto.com/index.html would this be an alternitive instead of replacing the head gasket? I need to do alot of work to the engine and was trying to decide if later I should rebuild or go with a JDM engine, Would you suggest as a temp fix try the repair stuff from the web sute? And as far as the JDM, would you suggest that over the rebuild?

lol... ummm this is exactly the problem i faced up till not that long ago. right now my engine and gearbox are out of the car and in little tiny pieces getting rebuilt. but a JDM engine would have been a lot easier and probably worked out cheaper... but mine IS a JDM car....

it really depends if your happy having another engine that you don't really know the condition of... exactly the same thing could happen to it.

i opted to rebuild mine cause then we've been inside and know EVERYTHING thats in there... ARP hardware, JE pistons, Clevite and King bearings... all new.. and it's probably cost me more this way (largely in labour) but long term i have a brand new engine...

I am hesitant about putting "stuff" in the engine to fix gaskets etc as it could solidify in a cooling passage and permanently block it.... but if your gonna go new engine you might as well give it a try! I wasted too much time with the overheating.. after a few times your head goes soft and you need another one...

Agreed...I do not think that I am going to use the sealier. I am pricing parts as I guess I will rebuild it myself. My issue is that I took it to a Toyota dealer and they told me the head gasket was blown. I refused to believe it because it has never shown signs that the head gasket was blown so I took it to a mechanic that a friend knew. After spending $1200 and it is still overheating, I have no car. I am going to price a few different ways, but if I am going to have to do most of the work, I want to put good parts into the motor. I want to get at least the 180,000 miles I have gotten to this point, also want to do some other work to it Nd maybe give it to my 8 year old son when he gets older, that is why I do not want to go to high preformance. I want to keep the orginal block and tranny, just so the numbers match. Do you have any sugestions of the best place to get the internal engine parts, do you think I should also have the tranny gone through...you know, since it is out. I had a ford explorer that I did not do that to and the seals started to leak.

ummm i did the tranny as well... I'd source a new head as that was my biggest worry when i had to get another one. just in case. if you're planning on going all original numbers you may be better sticking with toyota parts... i went with aftermarket. i can see your concern with the gearbox seals... but it's a toyota not a ford.... oh and toyota told me my gasket was fine so i kept overheating it and working on the rest of the system.

For toyota to have not caught the head gasket is pretty bad. I can understand the mechanic, he is 53 and from the old scool. I even asked my Dad and he didn't think it was the head gasket. I guess the MR2 never, or very seldom shows signs of a blown head gasket so that the guys from the old scool will be able to tell. Everyone kept telling me it shouldn't be the head gasket. I am still shopping online, I am not wanting to soup the car up to much, because I want to take care of it and do a tatal restore in about 10 years. i think my son would like it and it will be reaching its 25 year old mark.

hmm.... what you planning to do for petrol?

i did lots of work to mine cause i had the engine out to do the head gasket and it needed a new head and it had had water in cyl 2 and 3 so had a bit of water damage...