GrdLockV6

Ok, I thought my water pump might be going out, but someone just brought up to me that I might have a blown head gasket, and now I'm worried that might be what's wrong, seeing as how a while back my mom's minivan was having a similar problem, which turned out to be a blown gasket as well.

When I'm driving, the temperature guage randomly spikes really quickly, goes back down, repeats. Sometimes when it spikes, the car will lurch a tiny bit.

I thought it might be my water pump going out, but I just replaced it last summer, and I can't believe it's already bad, and the thermostat is brand new.

So, is that a sign of a blown gasket? How can I tell for sure?

Bow94z

is the exhaust smoking white? whats the oil look like?

do a oil change and see what the oil looks like when u drain it

steelerfan

Right ! White exhaust smoke will most likely be coolant evaporating thru the exhaust.If oil looks good,not milky which happens when coolant gets into the crankcase it's probably something else

Cruz3

My old 92 5.8L bronco sucked an intake gasket and had the same symptoms, but no milky oil. When it really let loose, it was ugly. Probably went a week with the original symptoms.

Kraest

Car looks like a cumulonimbus cloud machine and makes milkshakes in the crankcase.

Mike

POWERFREAK

You may also just have some air trapped in your cooling system causing the temp to jump around. If it doesn't have the symptoms listed, try purging out your radiator.