Head gasket help

micah_jones

Registered User
Well, I am starting to think my 90 SC has a blown head gasket. It appears as though the previous owner unplugged/disabled the temp gauge because it stays below the C on the gauge at all times. Anyways, today I started it up and let it run for a little while, and there was white smoke coming from the exhaust. This is really the only thing that I have found other than there being black crap in the radiator reservoir tank. I have a picture of that uploading right now, will post in a few minutes. Anyways, what are a few ways, with limited tools and money, I can check for head gasket failure? Also, where can I buy head gaskets for cheap? I am assuming the labor is what makes them such a costly fix though, right?
 
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Sounds Like a blown HG for sure. White smoke and black junk in the coolant is a no brainer. If you still want to test, Autozone can loan you a coolant pressure tester, as well as a tester to check for exhaust gas in the coolant. If they are blown, you want to add o2 sensors to your list of replacement parts. And get a working temp gauge.

Corey
 
Sounds Like a blown HG for sure. White smoke and black junk in the coolant is a no brainer. If you still want to test, Autozone can loan you a coolant pressure tester, as well as a tester to check for exhaust gas in the coolant. If they are blown, you want to add o2 sensors to your list of replacement parts. And get a working temp gauge.

Corey

Well, I just went back out and started it up and let it run for a few minutes, and no white smoke at all. It was just fine. Also, my step dad said when he drove it home, the temp gauge was working just fine, he just thinks I wasnt letting it run long enough(5-10 minutes) I am still not sure why there is stuff in the radiator reservoir(is that what its called?) It was empty before, so we filled it about half way.
 
If you have a blown head gasket it will look something like this.

IMG00242.jpg


It's common for the cars to smoke when warming up if theres condinsation in the mufflers - common in colder months.

-Tim
 
Go and get a block checker, it will tell you if exhaust gases are entering the cooling system. or you can do the old test and look for bubbles in cooling system when motor is running. but be carefull doing that.

white smoke could just be condensation in the pipes them selves. depending on the severety of the smoke. usually a blown headgasket will smoke all the time. and have a coolant type of smell to the exhaust.

we run into miss diagnosed headgaskets here at work all the time (I am a BMW master tech) and they usually end up being something else on the bmw engines. but those tips should get you in right spot. a leak down test on cyl will also show a gasket juse perform leak down and take off cap of radiator the bubbles will show you.
 
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