Head gasket

Tiny
DOERAE
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 VOLVO V70
  • 5 CYL
  • TURBO
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
The coolant is disappearing quickly but I have not found a leak. The coolant warning light came on and I stopped the car immediately and turned it off. I opened the hood and looked at the coolant level and it was low. I waited thirty minutes with the hood up for the engine to cool off to add coolant but when I went to go to that, the coolant level was back up. Then this morning when I was checking the fluids, the oil on the dipstick looked strange, bubbly and lighter in color. I wiped it off and checked again and it was the same. I checked it again about ten minutes later and it was totally normal. It was particularly cold last night and this morning so maybe that has something to do with it? I checked for other signs of a blown head gasket foamy stuff on the engine oil cap and oil in the coolant tank none of that as far as I can tell. I am wondering if this sounds like It could be a blown head gasket because I should probably stop driving it if that is the case.
Thursday, May 11th, 2017 AT 3:50 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
JOHNNY G.JR
  • MECHANIC
  • 320 POSTS
Try a compression test and/or a cylinder leak down test. Any steam exiting exhaust?
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Thursday, May 11th, 2017 AT 6:57 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,573 POSTS
From the description it sounds like it could be a bad head gasket that is just starting to fail. As Johnny says get a pressure test on the cooling system and pull the spark plugs one at a time and look for a very clean plug compared to the others. Any coolant in the cylinder will turn to steam and clean the carbon out quick. Those two items should show you if it's a gasket issue.
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Monday, May 15th, 2017 AT 1:44 PM

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