Head

I wanted to know how would you know if you have a blown head? Also, if you have a blown head what would your car do?

There are several signs associated with a blown head gasket, you may have an overheating problem, you may see a large quantitiy of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe, you may get water in the oil, you may also see water leaking on the ground. If this happens performance will suffer as you will be losing compression on at least one cylinder if not more. By the way, what makes you think you have a blown head gasket anyway?

Yeah I get it.

Hello;
My head gaskets went last week. This is something new that they use to check to see if your headgasket are bad. What they do is put a dye in your radiator, if they are toast, the water will intantly turn orange. that how they checked mine. I cought mine at the early stages, didnt have water in the oil or smoked. didnt have any other damage.
Don

There are several signs associated with a blown head gasket, you may have an overheating problem, you may see a large quantitiy of white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe, you may get water in the oil, you may also see water leaking on the ground. If this happens performance will suffer as you will be losing compression on at least one cylinder if not more. By the way, what makes you think you have a blown head gasket anyway?


The reason why I think I have a blown Head is because I changed the Water Pump/T-stat/flushed radiator 2 twice/and it is over heating.

OK! I agree that this is probably your problem then. Of course it will cost a considerable amount to have the gaskets replaced unless you intend to do this yourself.

A lot of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jeje

A lot of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! jeje

so why do the heads go like that is it anything I can do to prevent this problem

hello;
I got my car back last Saturday,They replaced my head gaskets. they took the heads itself and tested them to make sure they werent cracked. It cost a lttle over $ 1000.00 with labor and all.Labor here is around 45 to 50 dollars an hour. the heads were good, so all they had to do is replace the headgaskets .There is a lot of labor involved in doing the taredown and puting your car back to gether
Don

Might want to let car cool. Take cap off the radiator. Start it up and wait to see if water moves after T-stat opens. I thought the water pump was bad after I changed T-stat. Something told me to do the "dumb check". I bought a bad T-stat. If the head gasket is bad, you should have water in the oil. Water goes past rings and finds it way to the bottom. Save your money and run some test first. Then have a pro check it.

Might want to let car cool. Take cap off the radiator. Start it up and wait to see if water moves after T-stat opens. I thought the water pump was bad after I changed T-stat. Something told me to do the "dumb check". I bought a bad T-stat. If the head gasket is bad, you should have water in the oil. Water goes past rings and finds it way to the bottom. Save your money and run some test first. Then have a pro check it.

When you say water in your oil, how would I notice that. Explain and be more specific.

Water in the oil will make oil "milky" Sometime foamy. You should be able to tell, fast. There are a lot of things that will make a car over heat. Had a 70' Nova that the bottom hose collapsed. Would not let water back into raditor. Car over heated. It was about 6 months old. Even drove Chevy nuts. The only way we found it was the water stoped moving. Had to be something stoping the flow.
Check all the dumb stuff, before you pay someone to change head gasket. Must shops won't tell you and will chage you the $1,00.00, when they spent 10 mins. fixing it. Good luck.

Water in the oil will make oil "milky" Sometime foamy. You should be able to tell, fast. There are a lot of things that will make a car over heat. Had a 70' Nova that the bottom hose collapsed. Would not let water back into raditor. Car over heated. It was about 6 months old. Even drove Chevy nuts. The only way we found it was the water stoped moving. Had to be something stoping the flow.
Check all the dumb stuff, before you pay someone to change head gasket. Must shops won't tell you and will chage you the $1,00.00, when they spent 10 mins. fixing it. Good luck.

Thanks alot
I am about to go check that out
that is all I can do

Could have it pressure tested. The only thing is with a head gasket they don't (normally) show till the motor is warm. Enjoy the car.

Man;
Some people dont read the post.Do what i did , take it to a mechanic .Tell them you want to check to see if the Headgaskets are shot.They will put in a dye in your radiator, If the water changes color, intantly.mine turned orange imediatly( if you have green antifreeze).your headgaskets are toast.this method is something new. very simple and fast.when they took out the old headgaskets, they were cracked in different places and crudy looking. DOn

Don't you think it would be just as fast to run any test yourself? Also why pay to have anyone check it out till you try yourself? I know Pontiac dealer down street charges $80.00 for 1st hour. I just thought if he can find out what it is by himself and save that money it would be nice. Also, I have never used dye to check, wouldn't you have to drain and replace anti- freeze? If so, that's another cost. Let me know about the dye, I don't mine finding out new and old things. Thanks

Helllo
Well , first dont take it to a GM dealer, they will hose you everytime. take it to some other independent mechanic,s shop. the dye is inexpencive. It doesnt hurt the anifreeze either, it disapates and disapears, it take only around 5 minute to test it for cracked gaskets .I dont think it cost me anything to have mine tested because he did my head job on my car, He noticed that the car was running rough when i brought it in. thats when he did the test. My mechanic also showed me another trick about blown headgaskets, with the car running, look in your antifreeze resivoir and see if its bubbling air bubbles, this is also another sign of bad gaskets
Don

Don,
I received a private message from the guy with the trouble. For the last couple of days his car is not over heating. He ran it for a while with the cap lose. Also has a 195 degree t- stat in it. Now has cap tight and still doesn't over heat. No water in oil.
I think, and let me know what you think, I think he may have a bad fan relay. Either slow or fast relay. Sounds like the fan is running then stoping.
I've never heard of a head gasket that is blown that doesn't leave something behind. Most of the time, water in the oil. Sounds like antifreeze is over heating not blowing past the head gasket. What do you think?

I'm amazed that so many people are assuming he has a cracked head gasket simply because the car over-heats. Automotive cooling systems are more complex than ever and there are many potential causes for over-heating. You should never jump to conclusions without first checking the car out thoroughly. I mean, seriously, this guy could spend a ton of money replacing head gaskets that aren't damaged.

If I ever go to the doctor for chest pains I hope he doesn't just assume I need a heart transplant. :grinno: Not trying to be a jerk, but slow down felllas. His problem could be as simple as a radiator cap that's not maintaining pressure.

Don,
I received a private message from the guy with the trouble. For the last couple of days his car is not over heating. He ran it for a while with the cap lose. Also has a 195 degree t- stat in it. Now has cap tight and still doesn't over heat. No water in oil.
I think, and let me know what you think, I think he may have a bad fan relay. Either slow or fast relay. Sounds like the fan is running then stoping.
I've never heard of a head gasket that is blown that doesn't leave something behind. Most of the time, water in the oil. Sounds like antifreeze is over heating not blowing past the head gasket. What do you think?

I want to thank everybody who tried to help me fix the problem on my car. The problem with the car was the fan clutch, which was keeping the fan from spinning at it proper speed. I Thank you all so much

Had a feeling it was the fan. Head gaskets don't fix themselfs.
Good luck and keep it on the road.

Had a feeling it was the fan. Head gaskets don't fix themselfs.
Good luck and keep it on the road.

I thank you alot
and you nailed it right away
he told me the fan was not spinning the way it was suppose to