head gasket

2002 DODGE CARAVAN
90,000 MILES • 6 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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GARY MAZZA
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02 dodge caravan 3.3 liter antifreeze leak appears to be under head gasket. engine started skipping. hand computer says #2 cylinder misfire. will a bad head gasket make the engine skip? Free question my sons car. If happy with response and time to respond I will gladly donate. thanks gary
Mar 14, 2011 at 10:36 PM
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RASMATAZ
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Could be misfiring due to cyl no.2 might be getting coolant into it from the blown headgasket-try retorquing the head by specs and see what happens-don't work do an engine compression check
Mar 14, 2011 at 10:45 PM
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CARADIODOC
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If you see antifreeze leaking outside, it should not be affecting how the engine runs, but it's more common to have leakage between the coolant and combustion chamber. There is a test for that. I call it the "sniffer" test. It involves drawing air from the radiator through a glass cylinder with two chambers partially filled with a special dark blue liquid. If combustion gases are present in the cooling system, the liquid will turn bright yellow. A cooling system pressure tester can be used to pump the system up to 15 psi to check for external leaks.
Mar 14, 2011 at 10:45 PM
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