Today evening I just drove for about half mile and my temperature gauge touched the red. I thought its one of those guage senses so I tapped it few times but it refused to come down.
Now as per this thread I checked the following:
I get hot air from the blower.
The fan functions properly at the right time.
The coolant temperature after the drive was 83 deg.C
Then I checked oil dip stick for any trace of water but it was ok.
Then I opened the oil cap and I was surprised to see little oil+water thick creamy mixture stuck inside the oil cap. Now this has started ringing the bells. Am I blowing my head gasket? Though the oil is clean on dipstick and I cannot see any trace of this creamy thing inside the oil chamber.
To test furter, I let the engine completely cool down for couple of hours. Then started the engine and let it idle, within 5 minutes the temp guage touched the red. I checked the coolant temperature, it was 54 deg, I touched the engine it didnt feel really hot. I let it idle for another 5 minutes, then the fan starts, the coolant temperature is 82 at this time. I get hot air from the blower, but the guage doesnt seem to move down. I took it for a very short drive and it drives fine.
Now the puzzle is
Is the car really overheating or the temperature guage is faulty?
Have I blown the head gasket?
Now this has started really worrying me.