Signs You Need the Head Gasket Replaced Right Away

One of the most important parts in your vehicle’s engine is the head gasket. Auto Solutions advises that the head gasket forms the seal over the combustion chamber or cylinder block to keep fluids out of the chamber. This seal also allows compression to build up inside the chamber for engine combustion. The following are signs you’ve got a blown head gasket that needs to be replaced right away.

Instant Coolant Loss

One of the fluids that the head gasket keeps out of the combustion chamber is the engine coolant. Once the gasket cracks, the coolant easily leaks into the cylinder block and joins the air and fuel for ignition. Unfortunately, this causes instant coolant loss in the engine, which, naturally, causes the engine to overheat. The larger the crack in the head gasket the more coolant flows into the cylinder block.

Overheating Engine

Your car, truck, or SUV’s engine is going to continue to overheat every time that you drive the vehicle until you get the head gasket replaced. In fact, it will get so hot that you could cause additional damage to the engine. A scorching hot engine can actually crack the cylinder block. It can also crack the exhaust manifold gasket or the exhaust manifold itself. Do not drive your vehicle if it is overheating.

Scorching Coolant

One sign that the engine is reaching critical mass in terms of temperature is boiling noises coming from the engine. There will be some coolant left in the radiator and overflow reservoir, and as the coolant gets hotter and hotter, it will start to boil. This increases the pressure inside of the radiator. Once the pressure gets too intense, it will blow the cap off the radiator and spray the scorching coolant.

White Exhaust Smoke

Another thing you will notice is white exhaust smoke coming out of your vehicle’s tailpipe. This is caused by the coolant burning in the combustion chamber. The coolant creates the white exhaust. In addition to the exhaust, you may have white smoke flowing out from underneath the hood.

Milky-White Oil

All of the above is cause alone to avoid driving your automobile. You should definitely have it towed to our shop if the engine is running too hot. This being said, one final cause is diluted motor oil circulating through the engine. The engine’s coolant mixes with the motor oil when the head gasket cracks. This creates a milky-white fluid that can damage the engine severely.

Your #1 Orlando mechanic repair shop: Hondanis Auto Repair, is here to help - so call us today. We can diagnose and replace that head gasket! www.hondanisautorepairs.com