1998 ohv overheating

[ronrh21377]

1998 ford taurus ohv is overheating and coolant is leaking out of fill cap takes forever for the temp gauge to read anything then after 6 or 7 minutes of driving it shoots up to about midway overheats and can hear serp belt squeeling from getting wet from coolant

[ronrh21377]

i am pretty sure that its a blown head gasket it seems to run good though!!??

[ronrh21377]

seems as if the small hose on top of fill bottle going to engine top is clogged?

[shorod]

It would certainly be nice if the issue is that simple. However, a plug in that hose would not explain the coolant temperature would seem to climb rapidly after 6 or 7 minutes of driving. Still though, it would be worth checking that hose.

-Rod

[ronrh21377]

also i seem to have alot of steam coming out of tailpipe and my coolant bottle smells like exhaust or gas??is there a quick easy way to check head gaskets????

[brcidd]

I put a bread sack over top of radiator where cap screws on- does it blow up in 30 seconds? if so smell it- is it exhaust?

[shorod]

There are also combustion gas detectors that are around $30 and will confirm if you are getting combustion products in your cooling system.

You can also pull your spark plugs and check each plug for signs of burning coolant. The plug may be just really clean or it may even have a coolant discoloration if the leak is bad enough.

-Rod