some one suggested that this could be happening in my engine because it's idling eraticly and overheating without smoking or steaming from the exaust. I just wanted to see more opinions on this. it is likely the heads are cracked because the engine was senslessly overheated by some retarded vandals. eventually I'll be dismantling the engine to find out whats going on. thanks

 

Yes it could be a cracked exhaust port, combustion chamber,
cylinder wall, deck surface or a blown or leaky head gasket.
To test, remove the thermostat temperairly. Fill up the rad,
remove the fan belt on the water pump. Start the car with the rad cap off. Revup the motor, if you see bubbles in the rad water, when you rev it, your getting combustion gases/ exhaust gas in the cooling system. Don't run it too long, it will get too hot like this.
Also check for a restricted exhaust. Stuck Heat raiser valve, collapsed cat, or even a cat or big mouse stuffed up the tail pipe.... Seriously!!!

 

You can do the same thing F-Bird said but leave the upper hose off and look into the water passage of the intake where the t-stat goes. Whichever side has bubbles coming out of it you know the head gasket on that side is kaput.

 

could someone please tell me what the heat riser looks like and how to check it? I have a CC Q jet,thanks. I'll do these checks,hopefully its just a bad gasket.

 

Hey, doesn't http://www.eastwoodcompany.com sell the little radiator tester that tells you if there's exhaust in your coolant?

 

could the same thing happen with a leaky manifold gasket?