What kind of symptoms can a blown head gasket cause?

Answer 1

The chief symptom i see is overheating. The second most common symptom that i see is white smoke coming out of the tailpipe as wel as being able to smell antifreeze in the exhaust. The antifreeze level will drop of course.Some people say a sign is water in the oil but i find that to be an uncommon symptom of a bad head gasket.

Occasionally you will see a head gasket protruding out of where the head and block meet.

I must point out that other problems may also cause these symptoms. Overheating could be a bad thermostat or plugged radiator.

White smoke out of the exhaust can be a sign of Plenum burn thru ( very common on the GM 3.8 motors.)

Oil in the antifreeze is usually a sign of a bad intake gasket.

If the car overheated recently then it is very possible that the head is cracked or is warped. You will want to have that checked if you do the head gasket

The definitive test that i use to determine if there is antifreeze getting into a cylinder is to pull all spark plugs. First - fill the radiator. Then put a pressure tester on the cooling system and pressure the cooling system up to 15 pounds....wait... keep the pressure tester up to around 15 pounds

. After 30 minutes or so crank over the engine (with the spark plugs still out) If antifreeze blasts out of a cylinder then you know what cylinder has the bad head gasket or cracked head. ( DO NOT STAND in the way of any cylinder as the antifreeze may come out with a surprizing amout of force and volume and you will get soaked with antifreeze,)

Autozone has a tool loaner program and will lend you a pressure tester.

Best of luck.

If antifreeze comes out of ALL cylinders then you have the famous GM plenum burn thru.

Best of luck (^_^)