What to Do With a Blown Head Gasket

We’re sorry to hear about your blown head gasket. It can be frustrating news to get from your mechanic and immediately you start thinking through your options. Before you start thinking through your options you may want to make sure you have a blown head gasket. The biggest symptom that people point to for blown head gaskets is that their car is regularly overheating, but overheating can be caused by a lot of different components not working or failing. Make sure your coolant level is topped off, your fans are working or coming on properly and your thermostat is opening at the correct temperature either by removing it or checking the temperature it opens at with an infrared thermometer. If you are seeing heavy white smoke that smells sweet coming from your tailpipe, you can see an external leak, or have had your coolant test positive for exhaust gases, you probably have a blown head gasket.

Replacing a head gasket is not the easiest job for the weekend mechanic. For a vehicle with an overhead cam, you are looking at removing the timing belt or chain which in itself is a complicated job and requires the engine to be timed correctly when it’s put back together or it will not run properly. For all motors, it will require the removal of the intake and exhaust manifold which may contain frozen or stuck bolts, or at least a few “knuckle busters” that are difficult to get to just leaning over your engine bay. You’ll have to drain your coolant, likely change your oil afterward, buy new gaskets and probably a few new hoses that you’ve broken and depending on the make and model of your car a few other things will have to be removed as well. Once you get the heads off they likely will have to be sent off for machining since a blown head gaskets usually causes warping in the heads and possibly the block. If you’re up for the challenge of all that, then putting it back together, make sure you have the proper tools, take lots of pictures, label everything and make sure you have some time on your hands.

Another option would be to replace your vehicle. Depending on how old your car is, and what your plans are for a new car, this might be a good option. You may be able to sell your vehicle even with a blow head gasket as a “mechanic’s special” or trade it into a dealership that is willing to give you something for it. You won’t be able to get book value for your vehicle with a blown head gasket, but you might be surprised how much it is still worth. This may be a great start to dealing with your blown head gasket if you have another vehicle that you can drive in the meantime.

The last option you may not have considered would be to try and seal your head gasket without replacing it or taking apart much of your engine. BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer and BlueDevil Pour-N-Go are designed specifically to do just that. Use BlueDevil Pour-N-Go for smaller leaks, or 4 and 6 cylinder engines and use BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer for larger leaks or for 8 cylinder engines or vehicles with large cooling capacities. BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer takes the extra step of removing your thermostat while you are using it, but both products are simple to use. Simple add BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer or Pour-N-Go to your cooling system and allow it to circulate. The temperature differential at the leak point in your head gasket will active BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer and cause it to go from its liquid state to form a chemical weld sealing your head gasket leak permanently. BlueDevil Head Gasket Sealer is guaranteed to seal your head gasket leak!