[06mazda3]

Napa sells a combustion test kit. That will tell you whether head gaskets are good or not

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[06mazda3]

If you did the intake gaskets the heads are much farther into the tear down. I do head gaskets on 3.4s at least 6x a week. Here in my area head gaskets would run you maybe 40$ both sides and head bolts maybe 50$ or so...you wouldnt need to buy a kit considering you just replaced intakes....reuse them. But before jumping to conclusions make sure head gaskets are the issue

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[06mazda3]

Are you performing the flush yourself or having a shop perform the coolant flush?

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[06mazda3]

If your savvy with a ratchet, 6 inch extension and a 13mm socket you can do this flush yourself for about 25-30 dollars in supplies and an hour of letting the car run with the cleaner in the cooling system.. Go to autozone( i say autozone because they are the only ppl to carry the yellow mix- all coolant). Youll need 1 gallon of the mix all yellow and yes its full strength, small tube of black rtv, peak radiator cleaner/flush and a peak radiator tee kit. All will run approximately 25-30$.

1. Drain your cooling system through radiator drain then close after drained.

2. Remove your thermostat from the housing and reinstall the housing with black rtv to seal it up(leave thermostat out of the system. Give it about 10-20 mins for rtv to seal

3 add water and flush to radiator until its full. You wont have to worry about air as the thermostat is out so water should flood the block quickly. Run the car for maybe an hour with the flush.shut off your car after all said and done equip your tee into the heater core line( either will work) hook up a water hose to the tee, open radiator cap and drain plug and start your car with the hose filling the system while also emptying it at the radiator..the hose should force all gunk and blockage thru and out. Once the water runs clear and clean you should be able to completely drain the system, close her back up and add your gallon of mix all

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[06mazda3]

Partially clogged cat will not cause overheating it will cause random stalls from back pressure....fans not working will cause the temp to run higher than usual....pegging needle means you have a flow issue....run the car without a thermostat and if you still overheat then goodnight for the head gaskets

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