I dunno wat happened.help please..., Blown head gasket??? Options

[kavy]

Ok,so on my way home from classes today,i stopped at a roundabout,brakes down.when i lifted my leg to give the car gas,the car rolled back and i realised it the engine turned off.i hear horns blering behind me so i started the engine.it started with a roar compared to the usual grunt.checked my gauges and saw that the temperature had gone wayyy up(on the red line)so i rushed to a parking spot in like 45sec,turned of the motor,popped the hood and saw the radiator cap slightly unscrewed and coolant all over the place.thought i had blown the radiator.opened the cap and saw NO COOLANT.ok,i was glad to have stopped the car so i called my dad up and told him.he told me to stay there while he was bringing water for the radiator.on his arrival along with my elder brother they filled the radiator with water.it took like 5 litres im guessing.so yer,my brother told me to start the motor.being the total pain in the butt he is,he dragged me over and kept telling me that i had not closed the radiator cap properly.i told him time and again that i had and checked it twice.owk,on starting the car,the water started boiling and forming bubbles.the response i got was that the head gasket was a goner.is it true??because after that,when they were done filling in water,we drove back home and it was like a 20min drive.nothing happened.no radiator leaks or stuff like that.i stress that the car runs the way it used to and i drive it daily.im just looking to wat could have been the problem??and if there could be any other problem i could face later if something went wrong during that incident???or maybe any sound or pins or anything like that that could tell me what needs to be changed.i could take it over to a mechanic but the ones that i know of are what one would call butcher-mechanics.and their bills are downright EXPENSIVE so i'd rather check for problems myself and fix it if i can.any help would be deeply appreciated...

[GriffGirl]

I'm not sure what to tell you in terms of how to check for it, but judging by what you said about the foaming and bubbles, it really does sound like you blew your head gasket.

The next course of action I'd take is to drain the oil pan and check for coolant in the oil, and to flush the hell out of your radiator. If you DIDN'T blow your head gasket, it sounds like you just narrowly escaped car death!

[Smaay]

yeah change the oil. if it looks normal black then you are fine, but if its a milky brown, then water got in it. a compression test will also help you.

[longgone]

Hi there
first of all you should check that there is no oil in the rad
if the rad is fizzing up then you will need to check if it is carbon from the engine
there is a sniff tester out there that is cheap to buy called universal block tester you could probably pick one up off ebay
or you local motor store and is simple to use
it will let you know if the head gasket is gone through from the cylinder to the cooling system
as not all head gaskets go from the cooling system to the oil so saying that it's not gone if the oil is black is not true
but if the oil is a milky color then it is gone
hope this helps
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Engine-Bloc...omotiveQ5fTools

[kavy]

Owk.i just ran out and checked the oil.no milky brown.it's still golden(castrol GTX).yer GriffGirl,gonna get radiator flush and flush the hell owta it.thanx guys.im open to any other suggestions.oh and the car seems to be absolutely fine.rpms still the same as it used to on cold start and idles fine.

[Castrolman]

Do a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon) this will tell you if the head gasket is blown, only about $60,it's possible you just didn't have the rad cap on correctly & boiled the rad, you need to bleed any air from your rad,(park on a slope engine end up,remove the rad cap,on a cool engine & let the engine reach operating temps,the fans should of kicked in & the thermostat opened, you should be able to see the water circulating in the rad this should remove any air trapped in the system & let you know the water pump is working ok.
The hydrocarbon test should be your first step tho.

[enderswift]

Do a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon) this will tell you if the head gasket is blown

lol. rlly?

if your worried about your head gasket then do a compression test

[fosbal]

If all goes well, don't forget to replace with a new radiator cap!

[Castrolman]

Do a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon) this will tell you if the head gasket is blown

lol. rlly?

if your worried about your head gasket then do a compression test

LOL really, Compression test will tell you the compression over the cylinders,hydrocarbon test will tell if the head gasket is leaking or the block is cracked.
As my car is sitting with a blown head gasket at the moment,think the only way hydrocarbons get into the cooling system & pressurize it is either cracked block or head gasket failure,that will cause the coolant loss.

This post has been edited by Castrolman: Feb 28, 2010 - 6:27 PM

[longgone]

Do a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon) this will tell you if the head gasket is blown

lol. rlly?

if your worried about your head gasket then do a compression test

LOL really, Compression test will tell you the compression over the cylinders,hydrocarbon test will tell if the Head gasket is leaking or the block is cracked.

I once fell into this trap
I checked the compression on all cylinders to find them all good between taking off intercooler and all that goes with it
and checking compression 1 hour later no wiser
then put it all back
Next checked the hyrdrocarbon test 5mins to find that head gasket had blown through to cooling system
and would only show up when engine was warm
but if this engine shows no sign of overheating after a drive of lets say 30 to 45mins i doubt there is anything wrong with it
just make sure you put coolant back in as water isnt the best when it comes to corrosion
also water freezes and that will crack your block if it does

[Castrolman]

At least you know what your talking about mate.
Doing a compression test is NOT the best or easiest way to check for the cause of the coolant loss,I'd be hopefull that it's more likely just the rad cap in this case but a HYDROCARBON test is the easiest & best way to tell

[dabazied]

Do a sniffer test (Hydrocarbon) this will tell you if the head gasket is blown, only about $60,it's possible you just didn't have the rad cap on correctly & boiled the rad, you need to bleed any air from your rad,(park on a slope engine end up,remove the rad cap,on a cool engine & let the engine reach operating temps,the fans should of kicked in & the thermostat opened, you should be able to see the water circulating in the rad this should remove any air trapped in the system & let you know the water pump is working ok.
The hydrocarbon test should be your first step tho.

My car did the same thing out of nowhere and went back to normal afterward(to the OP). Follow Castrolman's advice, do those checks and then get a new radiator cap. All my stuff checked out and I got a new radiator cap and haven't had any problems since. Also, flush the radiator out and put in good ole 50/50 while your at it. This happened a few years ago, and the only coolant issue I've had since was my thermostat issue recently.

[kavy]

Hey,a friend of my dadz who just happens to be a mechanic(idk how good)stopped by and i told him all that happened.i was told by him to start the motor and leave it for about half and hour.i did as told,he had a good look at the engine(yay,no water level drops even after the 30 min idling)and told me that i got real lucky and nothing had happened to the head gasket or the block(RELIEF! ).oh yer i'll be flushing the radiator and getting new coolant in it(i checked with the previous owner and he told me he didn't.:(so yer..it's done 70,XXX)and definately get a new radiator cap.oh and i'll check and see if hydrocarbon testing is available here in fiji and get it done as soon as i can.thank you all so muj

[enderswift]

LOL really, Compression test will tell you the compression over the cylinders,hydrocarbon test will tell if the head gasket is leaking or the block is cracked. smile.gif
As my car is sitting with a blown head gasket at the moment,think the only way hydrocarbons get into the cooling system & pressurize it is either cracked block or head gasket failure,that will cause the coolant loss.

i thought you meant an emissions test, which made no sense to me. I looked into it and looks like you were talking about testing the coolant for hydrocarbons. my mistake

[nics]

might be the head as well, which is in my case.

read through

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...;hl=head+gasket