Head gasket issue? Options

[block]

So I start my car and I see a crap load of white smoke coming out of the muffler. Now my car is revving high in 2k. Im guessing this is head gasket issue? If so, how hard is it to replace and should I replace the whole gasket ordeal or just the gasket itself. I'm not looking to put much more work into the car as it'll have a newer engine. If I could just replace one simple gasket and get away with it for 4 months, then it'll work. I guess it wasn't good to let it sit for so long and not starting

[stephen_lee]

its def a saturday job. does the smoke smell sweet?

also theres a deal u can get from an auto store that you can test your water for combustion gasses

[Smaay]

head gasket is no easy job for the inexperienced. there are alot of parts that have to come off first.

[stephen_lee]

head gasket is no easy job for the inexperienced. there are alot of parts that have to come off first.

I agree. it took me ~ 6hours start to finish. im not the best mech but ive done it a few times, mostly on hondas though. that was my first 7a head

[PolliS_5S-FE]

Might help if you write a list of order and label everything you take off lol.. Helps with laptops atleast

[ricochet1490]

white smoke is burning oil.... head gasket issues usually result in antifreeze in the pistons. Does antifreeze burn white? idk I've never looked it up... but oil definitely burns white. i don't know if I would jump straight to head gasket. monitor the situation and measure your oil to see if that's what's burning. also measure coolant levels and keep tabs. My first instinct reading this was rings.... but I could be wrong and it could be something much more simple.

This post has been edited by ricochet1490: Nov 1, 2011 - 2:48 AM

[stephen_lee]

white smoke is burning oil.... head gasket issues usually result in antifreeze in the pistons. Does antifreeze burn white? idk I've never looked it up... but oil definitely burns white. i don't know if I would jump straight to head gasket. monitor the situation and measure your oil to see if that's what's burning. also measure coolant levels and keep tabs. My first instinct reading this was rings.... but I could be wrong and it could be something much more simple.

Oil actually burns bluish. Coolant doesnt burn, but steams, which is white w/ a sweet smell to it.

If the valve seals are bad, you'd get oil leakage onto the valves and subsequently the combustion chamber, and a HUGE amount of LIGHT blue smoke at the first start up, if it sat very long.

[ricochet1490]

Well, white/light blue are close in color haha. But it makes sense. There are definitely some variables we need to know. is light blue what he meant by white. Does it smell like burnt oil, or sweet? Which fluid level is dropping? Both? What'd you find Block?

[mkernz22]

blue and white are completely different colors. The colors is very defined between the two if they come out of the exhaust. And the level doesn't really drop too to fast.

Is the smoke just on start up and has the car been sitting for a while?

[block]

its def a saturday job. does the smoke smell sweet?

also theres a deal u can get from an auto store that you can test your water for combustion gasses

stephen, there's a coolant smell everytime i turn the engine on. it's been blowing white smoke everytime i've turned the engine on. at first i thought it was piston rings or whatever. then i read more online and thought maybe it could be a headgasket. im probably not going to do a headgasket by myself. plus if it's more than 300 to do it + parts then im going to look at my buddy's beams swap.

blue and white are completely different colors. The colors is very defined between the two if they come out of the exhaust. And the level doesn't really drop too to fast.

Is the smoke just on start up and has the car been sitting for a while?

just start up. when im shifting and things like that, there's no smoke. wife says so haha.

plus coolant level has been good. i've had to refill it once but that was a while back when i took the car out of hibernation. oil level goes down slowly but i've always changed oil right at 3k miles and oil level seems to always be fine.

[ricochet1490]

well looking at a beams swap is never a bad thing keep us updated

[czwalga]

Buy the headgasket fix at autozone for like $30. Make sure you get the stuff you can just dump into your radiator. If you need it to just get buy for a while i've had good success with it.

Not a permanent fix, but stopped the leak twice for me for a few months. Also if you pull the head, get it resurfaced, otherwise you could put it back on and itll be worse.