this has been the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Been having some issues as of late. Going down a highway everything was running fine, looked down at my speed, noticed the check engine light was on, looked around the console, temp gauge was pegged. Awww crap I though, pulled it over as fast as I could and shut off the engine. popped the hood, and a jet of steam was coming out from behind the water pump pulley, and coolant was coming out the coolant bottle. had her towed home, thinking it was just water pump failure. ordered a new aftermarket pump, after accidentally splitting the little o-ring that sets into the back of the pump and tracking down one of those, got the new pump installed. filled it with coolant, fired it up. sounded same as it always does; turned on the heater figuring that would help get any air out of the system. Engine got to about half way on the temp, then coolant started coming out of the coolant bottle again. Tried squeezing the hoses to burp the cooling system, got a fair amount of air out of it, tried again. same thing. I also notice the electric fan is not kicking on. I was unsure of what was wrong, so I brought the reservoir cap in, and asked what might be wrong. he says the cap is probably fine, and that, "That model just doesn't do that". sounds like it might be your head gasket. Unfortunately this has been a bad month and I'm pretty low on pocket change. including the money to replace the head gasket at a garage. Ive almost certainly jumped the gun on this one, but they had a head gasket set at the shop. I bought that and am in progress of replacing it. I really like working on this car, so much room. I probably should have had it towed to a garage and had them do leak down tests and whatnot. but didn't have funds to have it towed back plus probably hundred bucks or so for diagnostics. then Still have to pay to get it fixed.

If the head gasket doesn't fix my problem, where should I look next, other than having pressure test done on cooling system?

probably should replace all radiator hoses, radiator before they become problems. I'll put a new timing belt on after I get the head back on. Tried getting the crankshaft pulley off, but my impact wrench doesn't fit. so I think I'll try and get my hands on the tool for doing it. plus the timing belt cover was busted up pretty bad, in some ways that was a good thing, cause I didn't have to remove the back portion of it to get the head off. Probably look for one of those at the junk yard. along with a few other items. ( mounting bolt for AC compressor, Turn signal lens, Washing fluid cap, Timing belt cover )

Other odd things I've noticed. When I turn on the ignition, the spedo jumps.
Cooling fan doesn't kick on, even when it overheated it didn't turn on.
Unsure of radiator age, probably should be replaced, looks a bit beaten.
after puling the head the spark plugs look suspiciously bad.
car seems to bog down when first accelerating when cold.

Picture of Cylinders after head removed:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Xe5NrdHvBRNnRvengwcTFlYVk/edit?usp=sharing

Picture of Valves:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Xe5NrdHvBRNXEzYkRrX3B0TE0/edit?usp=sharing

Picture of Spark plug in head, looks like electrode is pointy now.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Xe5NrdHvBRWVBJUWpadE9qNFE/edit?usp=sharing

Picture of Valves, (are they supposed to be that color?
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Xe5NrdHvBRVzRYT3J1d0dZdTA/edit?usp=sharing

Picture of Valves on Cylinder #4 Looks like some oil built up in the cylinder?
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6Xe5NrdHvBRd2pyYk9Zb0pSZkE/edit?usp=sharing


This is my first head gasket job, so I have no idea what exactly to expect. The head is going to the shop on monday to be checked and probably at least resurfaced. I'll probably have them check the clearances as well. might need a Valve job, It just rolled 200,000 miles.

Thanks in advance for any help at all.