head gasket - timing belt?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 11:23 AM -0700 4/11/03, mike mcclurg wrote:

>My '89 100q is using just enough coolant to be a
>nuisance. About once every other week I have to add a
>little to cancel the auto-check warning.
>
>Doesn't appear to be leaking anywhere and 3 hours
>after I turn the engine off there is still pressure in
>the system when I take the cap off the tank.
>
>Does this mean that my head gasket has a small defect?

No- could be loosing the coolant elsewhere; coolant loss doesn't
imply head gasket problems by itself.  Coolant could be leaking from
somewhere on the radiator, around the water pump seal, the heater
core...lots of places.  Look for leaks when the engine is hot and
idling- that's when the system will be pressurized the most.

Particularly if the coolant passes an exhaust-gas check, and there's
no sign of oil in the coolant(and no 'milkshake' on the oil cap), its
probably not the head gasket.

>Would there be any particular urgency required to
>resolve it?

Not really, if it's very slight.  If the heater core is leaking, then
yes, that should be fixed, coolant is carcinogenic.

Brett
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