I bought my first car with a blown head gasket. At the time it had obvious signs but I didn't know what it was. You expect better things from a human being. My second car also had a blown head gasket, it was a dealer NJ who hid all possible signs but using sealant I guess. Signs started to appear weeks after the purchase. They were not obvious, first a CEL, then hesitating at cold start. What a nightmare with that car. Honestly, I didn’t know until now what it was like to have a car that doesn’t need coolant every time you drive it. I was constantly checking my 3rd car as I almost have a trauma. THE ONLY WAY TO TEST IT RIGHT is by doing a cylinder compression test. No chemical test on the radiator, no pressurizing the cooling system, forget it. It's like a sickness with different symptoms or no symptoms at all. Thank God my 3rd car is fine. Now, I just bought a Corolla with 90K miles and I’m freaking out as the coolant level went down a bit. (3 years later, story revisited) my Corolla is alright. 20K miles strong. It only loses 1” of coolant every 6 months, same as when I bought it. My prayers were heard. Thanks for comments.
@@asifsaleem2282 cylinder pressure test is the only way to be sure. My experience with these cars is that in the beginning they didn’t have the obvious signs of gasket damage. Either the dealer applied sealant or it was a very tiny crack.
Good job on the video, very organic and easy to follow. I actually did this on a car like 40 years ago and forgot about this particular method lol Thanks for posting.
thank you for sharing your video, and tips on how to determine or test when having some difficulties on your car: engine, radiator, cooler oil pressure etc.. as I am experiencing myself on what you just described. let me say thank you putting it in into words of comfort 'your car had better days and time to retire"🙏i understand material things can get replace. The acceptance is a bit overwhelming 🙏
You can also use a leak down tester to check your valves. Make sure the piston is at top dead center on the compression stroke. Apply pressure to cylinder. Listen for air at the intake and at the exhaust pipe.
I was going to rent the pressure test kit ,but just watching you do this is the same thing my car does. I have to put coolant in it everytime I drive it. Thnx for everything
Great video another helpful tool in the arsenal to blown head gaskets. Having said i would also suggest if your in dire straight you could also try to use Risolone block stop. Its a very good product and has helped me out with a friends Toyota Corrolla with a similar issue to this video.
I’m planing on changing my head gasket today I’ve been waiting to install a clear cover for the cam pulley gear! makes me abit sad seeing a neglected Honda engine :( hope they save it! Mines got 110k miles and it’s never let me down!
Thank you for teaching us how to figure out if a car has a blown headgasket. My 2002 Subaru has had many overheating problems. I couldn't figure out my overheating problem until I took the car to the shop. I have had my cousin do multiple radiator fixes where I have needed a new radiator and new upper and lower hose. Then my car still had overheated. So I took it to the shop, and then found out it was a blown headgasket. My car has over 233,000 miles. The price could be $1,800 dollars. Definitely not worth it.
Subtledriver great job on this video. Quick question what if I lose coolant from the exhaust the minute I pour it in. Unfortunately there is no oil in the engine
I bought a leak down tester yesterday, and I saw your video today. I'm going to test our 2001 Buick next. On the 3.1 Liter GM engine, the intake manifold gaskets can leak and coolant gets sucked into the manifold. So, I'll see how it goes.
@@tomaunofilms534 Yes I did. The liquid turned green, so combustion gasses were getting into the cooling system. I have a problem with fibromyalgia and arthritis, so I was trying to decide what to do, as fixing the car would be a difficult task for me now. An opportunity came my way where I bought a nice 1998 Ford Taurus with only 87,000 miles on it for $1600. I have a friend who is a retired mechanic, and his '94 Ford Thunderbird is in bad shape, burning oil and slipping transmission. It would be easier and cheaper to fix the Buick, so I gave it to him.
@Nikola Ok, then I guess that the reply was to complicated for your Neanderthal brain. Besides, you were not the one who asked the question. Just go ahead and find simple short videos to view, and stay out of other conversations. No one wanted your input. Also, someone should warn shepherds in your area that the sheep are not safe tonight with you around.
lol he says a head gasket is to much of an investment to put in a car with 250,000 on it . i agree it might be to much for the wealthy or uneducated . i'm poor and back in the day when i were healthy enough to do the work required it was a great wise investment . wealthy look at it as a poor investment due to the fact they have to much wealth , uneducated look at it as a poor investment due to the fact they cannot do it themselves and the people that can do it charge them an arm and a leg . greed is the main factor why we have so much unfairness on this so called earth .
@@borgman79 yes i understand when it comes to people making more money from their job then they would save if they repaired the item themselves . thats why they are not into other grunt work like mechanics . as for the tools , tools can be home made or bought used and or on sale . i never needed any expensive tools back in the day when my body still allowed me to do grunt work .
does this explain why my crv after sitting some days itll burn off alot and i mean alot of white smoke that smells really strong? its also burning alot of oil as well. my mechanic told me my engine needs replaced but if its just a head gasket that would be awesome. i get alot of engine chatter as well in the both head and block. i ran it dry for a few days before i noticed.
Hello, I've a 2005 ford explorer v6. It has oil in the coolant reservoir. It has a transmission cooler that is not connected to the coolant, it has no engine oil cooler. So the only thing i can think about is a bad head gasket? Btw 2 head leak detection tests that i did were negative (is a false negative possible?). The engine was rebuild and was put in 1k miles ago, however the store employee forgot to tigthen the clamb on the bottom of the radiator and i was at least 2-3 quarts low on coolant, can that have done the damage?
Your awesome!!! Could you do it this way without a tool? Example: If you're testing cylinder 1 out of 4; Remove the fuel pump fuse; Remove spark plugs 2,3 and 4; Remove the radiator cap and crank the engine to simulate the tool. Will that work the same way? I have a car that the oil and coolant mixed together and I would like to think its just gonna be the oil cooler gasket. Crossing my fingers on your response. Thanks a million!!!
Use some Blue Devil Head Gasket repair. It worked for me. Has been holding for about 1 year now. I had white smoke out the tail pipe. Used the Block Test Blue fluid and it confirmed hydrocarbons in the coolant passage way, because it turned yellow. After I used the Blue Devil Flush and gasket, and followed the directions exactly. It sealed the head gasket good. No more white smoke and blue fluid stayed blue. Worth a try.
One can also use "water glass" (sodium silicate), to do the same thing. That's the main, active ingredient is some if not most of the retail head gasket sealers out there. You can buy a gallon of the stuff online / ebay.
Should I do a glove test on my Honda cuz I don’t have bubbles but I did overflill the radiator when I replaced it after hitting a deer and now I have cylinder 1 misfire I didn’t do coil swap yet but I just have coolant leaking out from pressure but no bubbles
does this issue cause my radiator cap if radiator pressure cap is bad to create a suction locked on to the radiator. I can not remove the Cap and I do not want to snap off the the threads to the radiator I replaced the radiator 9 months ago. I am trying to salvage my 2006 Chevy trailblazer it has been a dream dream vehicle since I was 15 when I got to ride in a 1971 trailblazer.
Very helpful video! Thank you for sharing! What do you think about flusing the coolant and changing over dexcool to regular coolant? I have an 05 Buick Century, and dexcool is not good for the head gasket in that particular year, make, model, but that's the original coolant that the car comes with. It's a defect that has since been fixed in newer models, but I have the older model and I'm looking to change it out completely.
There are several different ways to do a blown head gasket check. The best way is do a pressure check. But the cheapest way I have found is; remove all spark plugs, remove the fuel relay, and start the car.If you have a blown head gasket, water will squirt out through the spark plug holes. To do this exercise, you will need 2 bodies. But The pressure check is the best way. There are other ways as well. If you wanna be a mechanic.
@@subtledriver If it ever slightly overheats or gets air in the system Dex cool turns to brown and black sludge. My Buick the coolant elbows burst causing it to slightly overheat before I caught it . I had to flush the radiator and block added Dex cool back into system then 9 months later the thermostat stuck closed and again slightly overheated . I had to flush with radiator cleaner because radiator had brown/ black sludge. I again flushed it with radiator cleaner and distilled water. This time just running distilled water In it for now but temperatures never rise above 196 and I can idle with air on for 30 minutes and temp may rise 4 degrees but that’s all. With Dex Cool I couldn’t do that before temp would be getting to high. Personally I believe Dex Cool is garbage.
Great test, now is there a way to single out which cylinder or cylinders are the one with the issue? If I leave the spark plugs on and I only air each cylinder?
@clearsailing7993 that will block water passages. It won't fix a head gasket. The only time I have seen a hg leak taken care of, if it was leaking externally and stop leak plugged the hole. No magical additive can replace a metal fire ring that withstands 2,000 psi. That's what the factory head gasket is designed to withstand
my first truck used sealant and lasted me 4 years strong until i totaled it definitely had 4 or more in her still i also took great care of it other than that whole sealant ordeal but it worked so dont knock it till u try it
Ok so if you don't have the proper tools like you to check for a blown head gasket whats a home made way to check and see if you just completely broke?
@@mjt-ew8rs lack of maintenance is typically the main issue (not changing coolant, not keeping on top of oil changes and allowing it to run in poor state, second is loss of coolant and overheating. This warps the gasket surface and allows it to blow out.
This is for someone stressed out over a 2012 caravan 3.6 we just milled heads, NEW head gaskets, new oil cooler, still misfiring at heat soak, because these motors are bad too have cracked blocks, from the coolant to the cylinder, if it misses when you start it then smooths out,or gets worse when hot, yep
Normal for an all aluminum engine. My 85 Nissan 720 had a cast iron block and aluminum head and never blew a head gasket in 320k miles. Also had a brass radiator.
How do u know what kind of pressure tool besides the gage that u have air to it to use....what is in the hole....and how without having the engine apart....do u know when it's too dead center????
Yeah I bought a car that has a bad head gasket builds pressure in the coolant reservoir an you can see metal flake an small bubbles moving in the reservoir even after I flushed it so I’m going to have that done sometime an also blew or cracked the reservoir while in the garage so going to need towed in 😕
On my car on a cold start with no radiator cap the system pushes about 8 ounces of coolant out but no air bubbles is normal. Also, on a cold start with the radiator cap on the system, pressurizes but not enough to go into the overflow …. What’s up with that?
Great video, I never seen a test done like that. Just a suggestion. I have done this many times my self. If you detect a leak like that in its early stage a simple retorque on the head to manufacturer specs can fix the problem. We use to do that all the time with cast-iron engines. With todays alloy engines I have found this trick only works if the leak has just started. I have tried it on engines with bigger leaks but it has only worked with small leaks.
That’s a bandaid always was even with the old iron motors. You must be in the used car sale business those are the only scambags still using that “fix”
Hi! What if there’s white steam vapor coming from the tail pipe? The temperature gauge is good, oil is good, coolant is good. I did have a check engine light read code P0303 cylinder 3 misfire. Trying to diagnose before scheduling an appointment. Haven’t driven car in 3 weeks ever since the excessive white steam happens when i start the vehicle & drive for 15 minutes. After 15 to 20 minutes steam goes away from tail pipe.
Ive some question, I did a drain and fill of coolant on my 2020 hyundai accent , drain the radiator and reservoir and fill it back in and put the cap back on, and i started the car with ac in full blast, then i took a bath maybe 15mins then when i get back to the the car the temp gauge is flashing red, i quickly turn the car off, waited 2 mins then i opened the radiator cap and filled in about just a glass of coolant and its already full, then i started the car again , in less than a minute the temp gauge went back to normal, drove it around and rev it and everything is back to normal, the question i had in mind is did i make any serious engine damage from the overheat like head gasket?
Very informative, replaced my radiator and fan(with cheap parts not OEM) due to a collision. Radiator began to start leaking, eventually severely. Added stop leak into the radiator no longer leaking but now my car is over heating. A day later I realize the fan isn't working. I'm getting the overflow of coolant from the radiator neck when the car is on, also notice what sounds and feels like boiling in the top hose and radiator cap. I was thinking the stop leak may have clogged the radiator. Can the fan not working cause the overheating, overflow of coolant, and boiling sound?
A boiling sound is likely from air trapped in the system, especially if you hear gurgling when switching on the heat. My guess is your cooling fan has a problem if its not on constantly when the engine is up to operating temeperature, have you felt your radiator hoses? Are they hot to the touch when the car runs for a while? If not maybe your water pump broke or your thermostat is stuck shut cause the coolant to not circulate.
I recently bought a 1980 cj with a 258. I can't keep it from getting hot. The radiator hoses get hard as well, this is probably at a minimum a head gasket problem right? Or could be rings as well? Thank you for the video
Hi, so the Toyota dealer mechanic messed up the radiator on my 03 Corolla & the manager put in a new one at no charge, but what’s happening now is I noticed the coolant on the reservoir is disappearing! From 1 day to the next half of the coolant on the reservoir disappeared. Why could this be?
Why not just check the oil dipstick. Wouldn't coolant be mixing with the oil if head gasket is blown? Back in the day we would always find the milky looking oil on dipstick.
My sons 2008 Ford Focus has the coolant filling up like that without the tool youre using. We were thrilled when we used the bulb contraption with the blue liquid and it didnt turn yellow or green. Sounds like its the same sad result though. Its a shame bc the car was my great aunt’s and only had/has 30k miles.
@@subtledriver Hiiii! Thanks for responding! This is nowhere near a realm that I am even slightly familiar with. He had an oil change prior to driving 90 minutes to his overnight college orientation. When he arrived he noticed it was really hot in the car when he parked & finally noticed the coolant warning level light was on on his dashboard. He didnt use the car for the 2 days on campus. I told him when he left he needed to go to the closest auto store & buy coolant. The store employee helped him and added it to the coolant reservoir. I was hoping that was the issue. The warning light turned off and he started the 90 minute drive home. Naturally, the light came back on while he was on the interstate. Someone recommended he turn the heat on high & defrost & drive with all the windows down. He did & got the car back to our house. A friend suggested we have the thermostat replaced. We had it towed to a mom & pop shop. The gentleman said he ran the car & notice the coolant level dropped by there wasnt any coolant on the ground, so it was going into the engine. The car is a total loss. He asked me to get it off his property that same day. So $300 in towing costs (to & from) but it came back home. My sister, who lives 8 states away, suggested we buy the head gasket combustion leak test kit. It came yesterday and while I had the car heating up I noticed coolant WAS leaking from the bottom front bumper on the driver’s side. I did the test via the coolant tank and was thrilled when it didnt turn green or yellow. The liquid remained blue. I turned the car off for it to cool down and thought Id try again later on the radiator. I took the cap off and didnt see any coolant in the neck. I let it run for 10/15-ish minutes and then noticed the coolant was coming up the neck, like in your video but there werent any bubbles. I turned the car off and a wee bit of coolant did overflow from the neck. Then I started researching again and came across your video and was crushed hearing the diagnosis via your test results.
