1994 Ford Escort Blown head gasket

CJCHAPIN

MEMBER
1994 FORD ESCORT
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
110,000 MILES

I had a new radiator installed this past spring, so I knew the white smoke coming from under the hood was coolant burning. I took it back to the radiator place and they told me it was a blown head gasket and would cost about $800 to repair. With it being the holidays the soonest they can get to it is Jan. 7. I asked about driving it and they said to keep it full of coolant and not take it out of town and I should br OK until then. Since then I've had a couple of people tell me that the engine will seize up and I'll crack the block; and that the price is too high. I've dealt with this garage twice before and they haven't given me any reason not to trust them, but I don't know much about cars. I'm driving about 15 miles a day just to and from work and checking the coolant every day. The car usually starts smoking about halfway and in the past week I've had to put in maybe half a gallon of coolant. Am I goiong to kill my car by driving it for another 10 days until I can get it repaired?

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

The problem is the more you drive it, the worse it will get, the more damage it may cause. The breach in the head gasket is being made worse by the action of combustion, at 3,000 rpm you are getting about 12 compressions a second with temperatures in the 1,000Deg range, and higher acting on this weak spot, like a blow torch working away, sooner or later the breach will increase and extra coolant will enter the cylinder, water is noncompressible, so if too much water enters the cylinder, bag goes a piston or rod and kiss the engine good by. The moral of the story is don't drive it, or you may be up for a very big bill.

Mark (mhpautos)