I have a 90 22re 2wd that recently got hot due to a water pump leak and now it builds up pressure in the coolant system. I am thinking it needs a head gasket and maybe get the head checked. Anything I should also check due to it getting hot? The oil is not milky and it does not smoke. I dont want to spend alot on this truck because the body is rough and the seat is torn badly but I have very little money in it. Is it worth it to fix or just sale it. I can do the work myself but what will I have in parts? Thanks for the help.

 

Do you have to add coolant at all and is there any discoloration in the coolant? Also you can check the thermostat. My 22re was heating up and the cause was the thermostat was stuck closed.

 

Nobody knows. The wonderful thing about rebuilding an engine is that it will always cost more than the minimum, but until you get inside you don't know how much more. Particularly when the reason is "the engine got hot."

Personally, I really like my truck and think it's in really good shape. So if I blew a Head Gasket again, I would fix it, and I'd be confident that I'm not starting down a long road of other things going wrong.

But if you think yours is pretty rough, and you have very little money in it, maybe it's time to move on.

For your particular issue, the coolant system is supposed to be pressurized to about 13psi. If yours is higher (lots of coolant going into the overflow and the level dropping), you can get a test kit that will chemically check the coolant for combustion products. This will help you know if you're leaking into the coolant system.

And seat covers, for all their faults, aren't very expensive.

 

With the radiator cap off the coolant will rise and bubble when reving the motor. With the cap on it builds pressure and steams out at the overflow tube. Coolant is a brown stained color....does that indicate exhaust gas in the coolant?

 

Did you change the coolant when it overheated?if not,I would flush and fill the sytem,burp it, and see were you are from there.

 

I did change the fluid along with a new water pump. I let it run with the cap off and burped it with the hose. I drove it about 3 miles and it was steaming out of the overflow when I got out.

 

The first step in any coolant / heat related problems is to pressure test the system. See where your problem is and go from there...

Google, pressure testers and how they work and what the results mean