Blown Head Gasket Test??
 

my 1985 500 sel runs hotter than I'd like, it really acts like the head gaskets blown, but there's no chocolate sledge in my radiator. I realize it could be many things, but before I spend too much in the process of elimination, I wondered if there's a simple test just for head gasket diagnosis? Anyone?

There is a special dark blue liquid that turnes wellow if combustion is detected in the coolant sistem,it's called 'sniffing'.
I would start with radiator flush , termostat check, and fan clutch .

What symptoms does it have other than running too hot? How hot does it run?

Mike

bubbles
 

in the water is an indication of combustion leaking into the coolant. of course you could have oil leaking too but that doesnt cause overheating.

tom w

You mentioned not finding oil in the radiator. What about the oil? Is there water in it? Once the gasket really blows, your motor oil will be something similar to the color of a chocolate milk shake - more a lightish brown color.

I would consider the following first:

a. thermostat
b. coolant - is there a sufficient amount and is it clean?
c. water pump operating properly
d. Radiator - how old is it? The do wear out and clog up with age.
e. fan clutch

There are all sorts of ways to test for a blown head gasket. It's my belief that's once they're "BLOWN", it's a no brainer. You get the milk shake I mentioned above.

There's also such a thing as a "LEAKING" head gasket. That's one that has not yet "BLOWN". Some symptoms of that include:

a. engine doesn't seem to want to idle on it's own when started up cold first thing in the morning. You have to idle it at a higher rpm for several mins. before it will idle. This is because when a head gasket is leaking, you're losing pressure.
b. Once underway, you'll notice the temp. gauge wandering a bit. You'll see the needle going into a higher area, staying there a bit, then dropping back down.

These are but a few things to look at. Use the search facility here to check for other ideas.

I would not at this time assume you have a head gasket issue just because you're running warm.

You hit the nail on the head about the...
 

idle not grabbing sometimes, my friend turned the idle up a tad, and I'm not so sure that was the answer... but... yes, in my original post I mention wanting to find out "something" before I proceeded with the "process of elimination" meaning the cooling system steps you suggested, fortunately I worked at 2 different radiator shops (radiator girl ;) ) when I was younger, so I knew about those things naturally. It's EVERYTHING ELSE I'm in the dark about, haha know what I mean? Anyway, it very well could be that it's a leaker like you said, I'll get back to you on HOW hot. Also, it seems like ever since my friend messed with the idle, that the tranny shifts into gears like REALLY hard now, like to the point of burning rubber. would you say that was an entirely different problem area? Thanks so much for your help and advice, I just love this site!!