Toyota Repair: 1988 Toyota Supra, blown head gaskets, toyota supra

Question
Hello,My question is in regards to a 1988 Toyota Supra/Non turbo, A guy is wanting to sell it for 1000.00 dollars but It overheats. If it just sits at idle it doesn't seem to overheat.Once its at running temp and you give it some gas the temp goes to red. There is no water in the oil. No white smoke out of the exhaust. And this thing runs like a new car. The current owner stated they replaced the thermostat with no luck.There are no leaks outside of the engine block anywhere. Do you think its a headgasket or a bad water pump? I have seen pumps with the blades dissolved clean off in a Ford Taurus. The temp only goes up when you give it gas. And the heater is not blowing out hot air. Even though the line to it gets hot. I'm stumped without taking the engine apart. Any suggestions? Thanks  

Answer
Check the flow from the water pump. Warm it up & do a compression / leak-down test to see how the rings, gasket & valves are sealing.
You do not ever overheat any engine, from any manufacturer from the late 80's until the late 90's. US-Gov banned alot of the use in asbestos in head gaskets during that time & they became much weaker than they were in the mid 80's. (Now they use multi-later steel which are ungodly stronger. You can buy them aftermarket for that 7m-ge)

The head bolts are not torqued down enough on that engine & also contribute to blown head gaskets.


But you're right, based on what you've said, it sounds like the coolant hasn't been changed often enough & corroded the fins off.