Sympton of a blown head gasket

Loss of coolant is serious because if you allow your engine to overheat you can cause very expensive engine damage - thousands of dollars of damage (not hundreds).

The items that need looking at are:

- Radiator cap is old and faulty. This can allow coolant to escape and needs to be replaced every 4 or 5 years (sometimes sooner) with the correct spec cap - not any old product picked up at some auto store.

- External leak - you need to check all flexible coolant hoses and connections for leaks as well as around the water pump to ensure the WP gasket is not leaking

- Internal leak
The most common is a blown cylinder head gasket which can allow coolant to escape and to get into the cylinders and into the lubrication system. If getting into the cylinders you will see white smoke coming from the exhaust . You need to check the engine oil for coolant contamination as a coolant can escape into the lubrication system via a damaged head gasket. You also need to check the coolant for signs of oil escaping under pressure via the blown head gasket into the cooling system.

An internal leak can also be caused by a cracked cylinder head but if you have this condition are blown head gasket will have probably occurred around the same time.
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you have a blown head gasket.. doesn't have to have coolant in the oil for a blown head gasket... if hoses are rock hard when running then you have exhaust leaking into the coolant via a blown head gasket...

Check and see if you have a blown head gasket. You might have a milky substance on your oil dipstick tube or you might have coolant on your spark plugs which would indicate your burning coolant. If any are true then u have a blown head gasket.

White smoke blowing out exhaust is classic sign that coolant is getting into the cylinders, meaning
a blown head gasket. You can still use your car for awhile, but your need to schedule it ASAP
for a new head gasket.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: moderate - you'll need at least a Haynes manual ($20 at Pep Boys) for
your Honda car or truck, and while its a big project, your vehicle really needs it.
Until you replace the head gasket, your vehicle will need constant coolant (50/50 mixture)
added, and will perform like a dog - meaning it'll waste alot of fuel getting around - why? coolant
doesn't burn and cools down (and reduces the power of) the explosion in each of the
cylinders that're being polluted with coolant. The more cylinders affected, the worse your
vehicle will perform.

A blown head gasket is usually easy to confirm. The head gasket prevents the engine coolant and oil from mixing under the head. If you have a blown head gasket, you should be able to see bubbles of water/cooland on the dip stick when you check your oil.

I do agree that with your heater taking a while to get warm, it probably has some build-up in the system that needs to be flushed out, before it causes other issues.

Best of luck!

you can have a blown head gasket without mixing of liquids, the coolant is going out the tailpipe, and engine compression is overloading the coolant system pressure

Hello pshep03: My name is Roger and I will help you. There are several things you can look at First is to remove the radiator cap fill radiator. Start the engine with the cap off. Should the engine blow the coolant out immediately on start up. Then the possibility is good the head gasket is blown between the compression area and coolant passage. You could also have a head gasket blown between. cylinders. To check this you need to remove the spark plugs. Using a compression tester. Check the compression in all cylinders. Should two cylinders next to each other have less then 100 lbs. compression. Could be down around 30 to 50 lbs. Then the gasket is likely blown between these two cylinders. The only true way to tell is to remove the head for a through inspection of the head and the gasket.
Should you need further help please just ask. Please rate the answer you received. This way I know it was helpful. THank You for using Fix Ya. Roger

Are you loosing Coolant? That and if there is a chocolate color in the oil are your best indication of a blown head gasket. Usually it will force coolant from the overflow tank under acceleration if the head gasket is going bad. There are a few different things that can make it surge, Fuel delivery, timing, vacuum leak. Takes more looking to find real reason for problem. Good luck and have a good day.

there is only one head gasket on each side, has the car over heated,
the top gasket is the rocker cover gasket

Was the car using much coolant before you forgot to replace the coolant bottle cap?

The clinking noise you describe - that may be 'pinking'.. a noise caused by an incorrect air/fuel mix .. and also a symptom of a blown head gasket. Another symptom of a blown head gasket is white smoke (steam...) from the exhaust.

First, check your engine oil on the dipstick. If the oil is a creamy grey colour this indicates a blown head gasket. The creamy grey colour is caused by coolant finding its way into the oil system.

Fill up your coolant bottle with coolant. Leave the cap off, and start the engine and let it tick over for 10 minutes. As the engine warms up air will escape from the coolant level - keep topping up as necessary.

Keep your eye open for extreme bubbling in the coolant bottle - violent bubbling in the coolant bottle is caused by exhaust gases finding their way into the cooling system via a defective head gasket.

If there's no violent bubbling, replace the coolant bottle cap when the engine has ticked over for a few minutes..

... and then begin to look for leaks as the engine ticks over. Look under the car to see if there's any falling fluid. Check around the radiator and the hoses. Check that the coolant bottle itself isn't leaking.

You say your car isn't overheating - that's a positive. One symptom of a blown head gasket is overheating.

However, your coolant is going somewhere and you should try and find out where ... If it isn't a leak from somewhere, it may well be the head gasket.

Prices? To have a cylinder head gasket fixed costs around £500 - £1000 British pounds. A coolant bottle costs around £30 (look on Ebay)

If the head gasket is leaking/defective you can try a modern sealant/repair, which I am told are now quite good. Have a look on Ebay:

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