Headgasket?

Above is two pic's of assembled Cylinder Head and Block..... Wrong grade of coolant is what caused this overheat. When a vehicle overheats or gets too hot the Headgasket is damaged and allows coolant inside the the combustion chamber. The block or bottom end of your engine is cast iron and the cylinder head cast aluminium. Different metals adsorb different heat ranges so when the engine overheats it's often the case that the head needs to be machined as heat warp damages the head, so the head and valve guides needs to be straightened and machined flat. This is an expensive repair, and in some cases can reach a cost of $3000, more if a diesel and all can be avoided with regular cooling system check ups and using the correct coolant for your engine. When i do a cooling system service i first check if your thermostat is opening correctly, i then dissconnect your heater hose and completely flush the system, in some cases a good radiator flush is needed and then the system is bled with the correct coolant for your car. This is a time basis service and should be done every two years regardless of K.M. Some brands advertise a 5 year coolant. It is not reccomended you change coolant every 5 years, still use the 5 year coolant but give it a life of 2 years, same with brake fluid, and don't use standard dot3 fluid in humid conditions, use a bendex ceramic dot4 fluid for humid conditions as brake fluid absorbs moisture. Regular service intervals on cooling systems will avoid costly damage. here's a tip though, coolant will not in itself cool your engine, there are properties in coolant that prevent the coolant from boiling, but this still does not cool your system. In order to keep your engine running as cool as possible, you need a corrosion inhabitor to keep your system from corrosion and clean. Running water in your cooling system will corrode your cooling system as water is a corrosive, keep your cooling system clean with a good brand of coolant designed for your engine. I use Nulon or Penrite.