Will a car start with a bad head gasket

It depends on how bad the blow is. If it is a small leak then you can eat oil or water. If the leak blows oil into the water then be careful to not run out of oil. If it blows water into your oil then DO NOT DRIVE IT. The oil will turn into brown mayonnaise very quickly.

If it blows water into the cylinder then you will need to pump lots of water into the radiator all the time. Remove the thermostat to keep the back pressure from purging what is left of your coolant out the over flow tube.

This will just make it take longer for your engine to warm up, but it will save other trouble.

The main problem will be how much pressure the gasket will hold. This will determine how much power you can get out of the engine before it blows.

It really depends on how bad the head gasket is blown but it should not keep the car from starting. Thr coolant leak sounds like it is coming from the water pump area. A quick test for a severe head gasket leak is to fill the radiator right to the top of the filler neck and leave the cap off. Have someone watch the radiator filler neck while someome tries to start it. If the head gasket is really bad you will see coolant forced out just from cranking the engine, if not it will come out when the vehicle starts. DO NOT stand too close to the radiator ar you WILL GET WET !!!

You don't mention what the problem is when you say it " won't start " . Does it turn over? Does it sound like it wants to start?

By 83 toyota truck runs and it has blown head gasket. But like Ernie Leimkuhler said it depends on how bad of shape the head gasket is in. Thanks Jamie

Thanks for the insights everyone. So far it seems like i had old plugs and rotr/cap so I replaced those and it is running weell again so far. However it seems like i do have a leak by the waterpump area that only starts leaking when the engine cools down. So maybe it crimped the gasket when it overheated prior?

thanks mike

and ps. no sighns of oil and coolant mixing on either side. lucky