Well, I checked up on my car in the garage... anyone other there with over 50K on a water pump, get the thing at least checked out.
well, the blown head gasget was indeed a blown head gasget, not a cracked head (phew) One of the previous owners ran a different spark plug the the #3 cylender, and happend to run it too hot. it burnt the metal ring on the head gasget, and cooked the exhaust valve seals, making my cooling system gather air and giving the car a slight miss over the power range.
It just so happened that the Idler pulley decided to SHRED itself last weekend on the hiway... so with the air in the system and a mal-functioning water pump.. I overheated. bah. I just couldn't belive the Pulley. there was nothing left other than the outer ring that the belt runs on. everything inside it was shrapnel.
well, the blown head gasget was indeed a blown head gasget, not a cracked head (phew) One of the previous owners ran a different spark plug the the #3 cylender, and happend to run it too hot. it burnt the metal ring on the head gasget, and cooked the exhaust valve seals, making my cooling system gather air and giving the car a slight miss over the power range.
It just so happened that the Idler pulley decided to SHRED itself last weekend on the hiway... so with the air in the system and a mal-functioning water pump.. I overheated. bah. I just couldn't belive the Pulley. there was nothing left other than the outer ring that the belt runs on. everything inside it was shrapnel.