blown head gasket?

Misfires, mysterious coolant loss, and oil/coolant mixing together in either the crankcase or cooling system. Plenty of other symptoms to add to the list, but that's just a few basic examples. On another note, very slight head gasket leaks may sometimes be a little more trickier to diagnose.

Inspect the plugs, chemical block test, compression tests, leak down tests, and vacuum gauge readings come to the top of my head.

-- deus

The exact symptom depends on where the head gasket blows. If it blows between an oil jacket and the cylinder you will have blue smoke and low oil pressure, possibly some pre-ignition knocking, and fouled spark plugs. If it blows between the oil jacket and the outside of the block you will have an oil leak and low oil pressure. If it blows between the coolant passage and cylinder you have white smoke, mis- firing, fouled/damaged plugs, and if there is enough coolant in the cylinders then you can bend the rods/damage pistons. If it blows between the cylinders you won't get the typical smoke rather you will get a severe cross fire. The car will fight itself and sound like a lawn mower. Everyone points to white/blue smoke but that is only if you are getting coolant/oil in the cylinder.

Leak down testing can accurately diagnosis a head gasket

The very earliest symptom of a blown head-gasket is pressure in the cooling system even after the car is dead-cold. So, if you remove the overflow tank cap and it gives a distinct *POP*, then the gasket is blown.

Also as another mentioned, a leak-down test.

Consider also that all the symptoms described elsewhere could be due to a warped or cracked head, this due to overheating or running with low coolant. So, if you do have to remove the head to replace the gasket, check it for "flat" and for any cracks. Don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings, but don't 'assume' in this case.

Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA

check to see if there is HC(hrdrocarbons) in the coolant bottle. Test with gas analyzer.

I just replaced a head gasket on a 94 golf because of no compresion, the head was warped so I had it shaved and tested. I think there was other damage. dose the "in 02 " that comes up on the dash milage display? it started first try but shut down and would not start again. I have alreadt checked power at injectors, and spark at plugs. I also have fuel at the end of fuel rail (7mm screw)

interested in any ideals. thanks

Mario V.W.resto.

Talk about a hijacked thread! lol

The "in 02" will be a mileage activated reminder to have a service done to the vehicle.

Is this a 2.0 engine? So are you getting spark, fuel and compression? How do the spark plugs look? Wet and black? I would suspect that ign coil and ONLY replace it with one from the dealer. The aftermarket ones I have seen may last anywhere from 1 week to 1 year but all of them I have seen fail. :-( I am told that the Engine Speed Sensor goes out a lot on the 2.0 engines. I don't think that I have had to change one yet except on a VR6, but must have changed 6-8 ign coils for the various 2.0 engines.

quoted text -

Does shavng a warped head work on an overhead cam engine? I have seen claims that unless you align bore the cam you have the cam running in an unantural, un-engineered situation which should cause extreme wear of the cam caps and resultant loss of oil pressure as the tolerances increase.

I think my 81 diesel may have a blown head gasket.

There is pressure in the coolant bottle even when the car is cold and I recently had to replace all of the hoses because they were starting to bulge (I presume from excessive pressure). Also, my coolant gets very dirty looking within 1000 miles of a coolant change. What I do not see is any smoke from the exhaust of any color and I see absolutely no degradation of the engine power.

Do these symptoms sound like a head/gasket problem on a diesel? If so , can I continue to run the car for a little while if I change the coolant and oil frequently without causing additional damage?

I plan to do a total rebuild starting in late July (with a NEW head), but I would like to keep driving it until then.

Craig O.

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It might cost you more if you wait until the cylinder head cracks or other possibly problems occur. Instant swelling up of the coolant hoses would lead me to believe that the cylinder head gasket is bad.

Oil getting on the coolant hoses could cause them to soften and swell/bulge. Oil inside of the coolant system is usually the gasket if there is no oil cooler on the engine.

JMHO