Bubbly coolant- H/gasket??

[AxtellZ]

Quick update. went to flush radiator & replace cap to rule out any questions. Car ran 20 minutes, with heat on. Stayed right on 180F, ran great, and no leaks. Shut it off, pulled the rad cap, and had more of a vacuum suck, as opposed to pressure release.

Started looking for leaks etc, and found all the water passages were hot, EXCEPT the lower radiator hose. Warm in places (ends), but mainly cold..Pulled the hose, it has a spring liner , but is not plugged. Water pump not pumping?? Plugged upstream? Any ideas? Thanks all. Jeremiah

ps- the coolant stinks like a dead fish, and was really foamy, like the trough at the football stadium. Any clue here? Thanks JA

[2ManyZs]

This is making me think your problem isn't the head gasket after all.

1. Bad antifreeze. ( Fish smell???)

2. Clogged radiator, reduced flow may be causing pump to cavitate. This may be why the lower hose wasn't as hot as the rest. Pump is not able to force the water thru the radiator like it should.

3. Bad pump.

Did it do this before or after you flushed and re-filled with new antifreeze?

[AxtellZ]

okay, its raining here, but i push on!

Yes nasty coolant. Used Mac's radiator flush, flushed coolant system twice. Very ugly cruddy results. Pretty clean now though.

Car idled for most of an hour. Tstat never really went past 180. Top of radiator is quite warm, but the bottom is really cool. (at least after 15 mins of idling).

Plain water in the system idling with rad/cap off appears boil/foam just a bit once its hot. Gauge in car was at 180, gauge in radiator opening reads 172.

I refilled with 50/50 antifreeze/water, ran it in the garage- everything appears fine, gauge reads 180, no leaks etc. But the lower rad hose is still cool, as well as the lower radiator.

Heat is fine. heater hoses, etc all fine. I'm thinking its just doing its job, hot coolant at the top, cool at the bottom. Oh yeah all plugs are tan like they should be. I do plan to compression check the cylinders and pressure test the cooling system to ease my mind. I thought i may have had a plug somewhere, or a bad water pump, but all appears normal (for now). Anyone care to give an educated guess? Thanks to everyone here! Jeremiah:D