How do I know if my head gasket is blown or the seal is broke

Tiny
RAY9191
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE
  • 240,000 MILES
I think my head gasket is blown but I cant tell for sure
Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 4:01 PM

11 Replies

Tiny
JACKSPRAT
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  • 46 POSTS
What are the symptoms? Is it over heating? Is the oil mixing with coolant or vice versa?
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 4:18 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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You can use a chemical tester which you can rent at auto zone to see if you have a head gasket or cracked head issue.
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 4:32 PM
Tiny
RAY9191
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Its not over heating but I can see coolant come out the passenger everytime some one revs the car and I can smell it
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 4:34 PM
Tiny
MIKE H R
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If you don't have any water in your oil and vise versa auto zone also has a compression checker you can borrow to check the compression of each cylinder.
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 4:37 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Where does compression come into play here?There talking about coolant. To find a blown head gasket you use a chemical tester to see if exhaust gases are entering the coolant from a bad head gasket. Where is the coolant coming from when you rev it up?If its just leaking coolant then I would use a coolant pressure tester to pressurize the cooling system. If you think its leaking coolant externally because of a bad head gasket or something like a cracked head you can use a cylinder leak down tester.I have used those to find exhaust ports leaking coolant from bad heads etc.
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 5:10 PM
Tiny
RAY9191
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  • 21 POSTS
Here is a pictue where it leaks from
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 5:26 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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What size engine do you have?
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 6:13 PM
Tiny
RAY9191
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It is 3.8l v6 3800 series
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 6:19 PM
Tiny
MIKE H R
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I see what your saying, After reading post again realized it was running all right just leaking fluid. Had one that kept missing from crack in cylinder wall.
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 7:20 PM
Tiny
RAY9191
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Yeah it does not over heat it just leaks and makes a little grinding but I replace the intake about 3 years ago this all started when my friend floored it going around a coroner
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Sunday, January 15th, 2012 AT 11:53 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Where is the grinding noise coming from?Can you remove the top engine cover and take some more pics and post them so we can get a better look?
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Monday, January 16th, 2012 AT 7:08 AM

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