Is my head gasket going or what!?

[Joe_Cool97]

Ok, just recently I have been losing coolant.. All i know is it isnt in the reservoir and I have had to keep puttin more in. I read in here to check my oil to see if there is a creamy milky goo in my oil. There isn't any IN the oil, but just a little bit of crap (goo) on the bottom of the oil cap. Does this mean my head gasket is gone?. Is there anything else I should check before I go out and buy a head gasket kit? I just need to hurry up and fix this of it is a bad gasket. Any one have any tips on doing this. Or does anyone know how I can check FOR SURE that my head gasket is gone. Thanks. Any help at all would be appreciate.. and your experiances doing a head gasket would help too.
94 RS. 2.2L, 168 000KM.

Thanks

[-Jayson-]

sounds like the head gasket, should be leaking in the front right corner of the engine. Drips down onto the trans.

[Classicrocjunkie]

Sounds like it to me too... If you never have done one before, set aside a whole day and take your time to do it right. I know several people that have had to do it a few times before the got it right... purchase a Haynes or Chiltons manual and they bascially walk you right through it all... First one i ever did was on a 98 monte carlo Z34... bah... whata bitch...

[robTypeR]

compression or no compression that will tell u right there if ur head gasket is blown or not

[Minnow1982]

I drove a '92 cavalier for 7 years and my coolant was always low too. I don't know how much you're losing, but with mine it was just something I had to keep an eye on. I would just keep the radiator full. My mechanic told me he couldn't find the problem, car ran great forever. Those older Cavy's really kick ass, I think I only had it in the shop once with the exception of regular oil changes and tires.

[Joe_Cool97]

yea the car runs perfectly fine... i just dnot wanna create a larger problem

[cousincletus]

The scummy stuff on the oil cap is probably condensation from making short trips in the wintertime. Your oil will look milky if water is mixing with it. You can get an oil analysis for around 20 bucks to be sure. Personally have never seen an OHV engine mix oil and water from a bad head gasket. All the ones I have seen were external leaks near the #4 cylinder front of engine.

[cousincletus]

Forgot to mention that my 1993 Cavalier got recalled for an intake manifold gasket. This could cause coolant loss too.

[Joe_Cool97]

intake manifold gasket huh?.. sounds interesting.. that could be my problem. I mean the car runs awesome. Good accelleration.. everything is fine. its just loosing coolant. Any help from ANYONE would be very very very appreciated. I am new on working with engines. Thanks keep the help comin guys.

[Joe_Cool97]

..oh yea.. and how exactly do you tell if you have an "external leak". what exactly am i lookin for here guys. In both cases.
Thanks

[cousincletus]

My 1993 Cavalier showed a slight green antifreeze stain at the drivers side front corner of the head. As I recall there wasn't much loss of antifreeze with the leak. Just had to keep it topped off until I was able to fix it. For the intake manifold gasket, it's an easy DIY fix. Don't forget to check the rad. hoses.

[Joe_Cool97]

should I try re-torqing the head?

[Joe_Cool97]

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...ht=head+gasket

is there really a recall for cavalier head gaskets or is this false

[Joe_Cool97]

where is the intake manifold located

[noshun]

Ok the cream on the inside of the cap isn't from condenstion it's a small amount of water getting into the combustion chamber if it's not too bad. It wont be the intake manifold gasket as this doesn't have anything to do with the coolant and retorquing the head wont fix it if the head gasket is dead. If water is in the bores, when you change the head gasket which is your problem short of a burst water jacket which would just eat coolant then you'll have to check there condition as you may have some damge done like scoring or even rust.