How Can I Check for a Blown Head Gasket?

Learning how to check for a blown head gasket isn’t a difficult procedure once you understand what a blown head gasket is and how it can affect the motor in your vehicle. The only way you can be absolutely positive that your vehicle has a blown head gasket is by disassembling the engine and removing the head gasket and checking for gaps or broken spots in the gasket. Since head gaskets are relatively thick gaskets usually made of hard composites or metal, broken spots where the gasket has blown can be easily identified once the gasket is out of the vehicle.

The problem with using this method to check for a blown head gasket is that the majority of the cost of replacing a head gasket is in the disassembly of the engine. Because of this, using the disassembly method to check for a blown head gasket can be very cost prohibitive.

The best way to check for a blown head gasket is to look for multiple indications of a blown head gasket. If you have 1 symptom of a blown head gasket, it’s always possible the problem is being caused by another problem. For example, one of the indications that you’ve got a blown head gasket is to have coolant loss with no signs of external leaks. A blown head gasket will allow coolant to enter the combustion chamber from the engine’s cooling jacket where it will be vaporized during combustion and exit through your exhaust system most of the time without leaving any evidence of a leak. However, since your cooling system operates at a high temperature and pressure, it’s possible to have a cooling system leak that only leaks when the system is pressurized and hot so the coolant again would exit the system as steam leaving no traces of a leak.

To give you more confidence in your diagnosis, it is important to make sure you check for multiple indications of a blown head gasket. To check for a blown head gasket, you need to understand the indications. The head gasket’s job is to keep things where they’re supposed to be in your engine. The head gasket keeps coolant out of the combustion chamber and out of the engine oil. It also keeps exhaust gasses out of your coolant by containing the combustion process. If your head gasket fails, the best place to look for indications of it failing is by checking for things in the wrong places.

One easy check is looking for coolant in your engine oil. When coolant mixes with oil it makes a milky color or light brown sludge. You can check for this by pulling out your oil dipstick and looking for milky streaks in the oil or brown sludge. You can also try checking under your oil cap for the same indications.

Next, you can check for a blown head gasket by looking for coolant in your combustion chamber. If the leak is large enough you can often see steam coming from your tailpipe. This steam will smell sweet and be a thicker whiter cloud than the simple condensation cloud you get right when you start your car. You can also check your spark plugs for evidence of burning coolant which can show up as small white specs around the ground strap and plug tip. Lastly, you can perform a chemical test (available at most auto parts stores) to check for the presence of exhaust gasses in your coolant indicating that there is a leak between your combustion chamber and cooling system.

If you’ve got multiple indications of fluids being where they shouldn’t be in your engine, then it’s very possible that you’ve got a blown head gasket. If you’ve got a new vehicle with a 4 or 6 cylinder engine then you can quickly and easily seal your blown head gasket without the use of any tools! Simply add BlueDevil Pour-N-Go Head Gasket Sealer to your vehicle’s cooling system and your head gasket leak will be sealed as you drive! For more information about BlueDevil Pour-N-Go Head Gasket Sealer, click on the banner below!