Blown Cylinder Head Gasket Symptoms - Tests
Cylinder Head Gasket Symptoms
Vehicle Over Heats:
This can be due to a blown head gasket / cylinder head gasket failure. The water gets into the combustion chambers/cylinders which results in the cooling system water boiling instantly on contact and causes your car to overheat. A sign of this can be white looking smoke from the exhaust pipe on a closer inspection you will see that it is actually steam. If this occurs you will notice that the water in your radiator or expansion tank appears to be disappearing or going down fast this is down to the water boiling off.White sludge in oil:
You get a whitish grey sludge forming on the dipstick or on the inside of the oil filler cap this occurs when the water is getting through into the oil as it emulsifies and appears like glue or porridge.Oil in Water:
It can be the other way round and the oil gets into the water and in this instance you will see oil floating on top of your water in your cooling system this can be seen in the radiator or expansion tank and also the sludge looking substance may be present.These problems can be very gradual head gasket failures and your car may run for months and months and then over heat very suddenly.
When you experience any of the above symptoms it is very likely to be a head gasket failure.
Head Gasket failure leak test’s:
You can take your vehicle for a couple of tests to make sure you have a head gasket problem. However if you have the symptoms above they are only going to confirm what we already know!Head Gasket Combustion Compression Test:
A combustion compression test is where they remove spark plugs and test the compression on each cylinder if the compression is low on any one or more cylinder it would usually indicate that some pressure is escaping from within the cooling system and therefore a head gasket failure is present.Cylinder Head Gasket Gas/Sniff Test:
A device is placed over the filler cap of the radiator or expansion tank and the gasses escaping are tested by use of a chemical that changes colour this again indicates that you have a blown head gasket as gasses that should not be present in your vehicle cooling system are present.Summary
It is worth bearing in mind that some cars are very prone to head gaskets blowing therefore if you own one of them and the symptoms above are present then you have a head gasket failure!
Rover
All rovers, especially ones with k-series engines fitted in the likes of Rover 214's,216, 218's,Rover 416,418 and 420, Rover 618, 620 and so on and also in all 1.8 MGF sports cars and the notorious Freelander was fitted with the cylinder head gasket failure prone 1.8 Rover engine. Cylinder head gasket failures have been reported in these cars at as little as 30,000 miles! The Range rover petrol 3.8, 4.0, 4.4 and 4.6 are also very common head gasket blowers they can also suffer from a porous block and have been known to suffer with dropped liners which can give very similar symptoms to that of a head gasket failure.
Fiat
Smaller engine Fiats are also common head gasket failures such as the Punto.
Toyota
The most prolific head gasket failures are attributed to the Toyota Surf
Renault/Peugeot
Many Renault and Peugeot 1.9 and 2.2 diesel engines suffer from head gasket failure however this is usually attributed to the high mileage that people put on these vehicles and should not cause too much concern.
BMW
3 Series BMW is a popular one to display a blown head gasket symptom again this is usually only on very high mileage examples.
Almost all vehicles can display a head gasket symptom and subsequently suffer from a blown head gasket or head gasket failure some cars can have this happen at low mileages which can be down to a manufacturing defect or cheap head gaskets being fitted which becomes a false economy as you need to administer a more costly head gasket repair. Others are simply down to wear and tear resulting from high mileage. The head gasket itself is not costly unfortunately you have to spend a long time removing parts and putting it back together which is why head gasket repair can become very costly especially if taking your vehicle to a main dealer to fix. Also the cost to repair a head gasket can increase significantly dependent on the amount of additional damage caused. Very often people carry on running the car till it will not go any more this usually causes more problems as the vehicle has boiled or ‘cooked’ from excess heat and can cause other faults such as warped heads, cracked blocks and valve damage or even seized pistons locked due to the amount of water that has got into the combustion chambers. As soon as you notice any head gasket symptoms appearing stop driving your car and take a different action!
Read all about Steel Seal and how it can fix your head gasket symptoms for less than you think
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