How common are blown head gaskets?

Blowing your head gasket is a common problem for motorists – especially if you have an older car. If you're not careful this can result in damage to the engine and high head gasket repair costs. You could even require a mechanic to replace the head gasket entirely, for no small cost.

What is the main cause of a blown head gasket?

Overheating. Engine overheating is one of the most common causes of a blown head gasket. When the engine gets too hot, the gasket is exposed to temperatures outside of what it is meant to handle. Extreme heat can cause failure.

How obvious is a blown head gasket?

In the case of a blown head, external oil or coolant will leak out from the seams between the engine block and the cylinder head. These leaks are a sign of head gasket failure and a good sign you need to have any potential cracks and cylinder head twists looked at, immediately.

How serious is a head gasket issue?

A bad enough head gasket leak will cause the engine to lose compression. This can lead to the engine running roughly at idle, knocking and even stalling. However, other problems can cause the engine to run roughly or knock.

Is it easy to tell if you have a blown head gasket?

There is an easy way to find out if your engine's head gasket has blown. Simply check under the oil filler cap. If the gasket is not damaged, the inside of the oil cap will be mostly dry. If you discover a milky brownish-yellow substance that is similar to the thickness of a milkshake, you probably have a gasket leak.

Learn 3 Symptoms of Blown Head Gasket

How much would a new head gasket cost?

According to a national average, it costs between $1,624 and $1,979 for a head gasket replacement. The associated labor costs are estimated between $909 and $1147 while the parts themselves vary in the range of $715 and $832.

What can be mistaken for a blown head gasket?

The most common misdiagnoses symptoms of a blown head gasket are coolant disappearing miraculously or an overheating engine for no apparent reason. If you've got a good understand of the cooling system in your car, then it becomes quickly apparent that these two things combined actually make a lot of sense.

How many labor hours does it take to replace a head gasket?

For starters, most head gasket jobs require 3-8 hours depending on the how your car is built and what the disassembly and reassembly procedure is. This labor cost is where most of the expense come from for your head gasket job. On top of the labor costs, you have to add on the replacement parts required for the job.

How long will a car last with a blown head gasket?

Some engines will stop operating altogether within one day. You might be able to drive the car for a week, or it may last for a few months if you use a temporary fix on it. As a rule of thumb, it's best to NOT drive if you suspect a head gasket issue.

Is it better to replace head gasket or engine?

Water in your oil will allow your bearings to rust and wear out very quickly. If your head gasket leak has caused this problem you are almost always better off replacing the whole engine as a new head gasket will stop the leak but bearing damage has probably already been done.

Will a car start with a blown head gasket?

When your engine isn't starting because of a bad head gasket, you're going to notice certain symptoms: The engine turns over but doesn't start. Each time the engine rotates, the battery dies more. Even when the starter catches, the engine will not ignite.

Does white smoke always mean blown head gasket?

White smoke from your exhaust almost always indicates a blown head gasket, and just like there is coolant mixed with your engine oil, there will also be engine oil mixed with your coolant.

Does milky oil always mean head gasket?

Milky, frothy oil on the dipstick could mean you have coolant leaking into your oil pan, but doesn't necessarily mean a bad head gasket. This symptom is too often mis-diagnosed as a bad head gasket with unneeded repairs performed. There are many other things that can also cause this and it is rarely a headgasket.

What happens if you keep driving a car with a blown head gasket?

But there's a more urgent issue to be aware of if you're driving with a blown head gasket: if the coolant is leaking, then it's no longer available to cool down the engine. Without this support, the engine will soon overheat if you keep driving – leading to further cracking and damage to your engine.

Is a blown head gasket expensive to fix?

How much does it cost to replace a blown head gasket? The cost of head gasket repairs can run into the thousands, meaning it's often easier and cheaper to scrap the vehicle than it is to have it repaired. The average cost of head gasket repair is around $1,000 to $2,000, but this isn't because the parts are expensive.

Can you replace a head gasket yourself?

Head Gasket Fix is incredibly easy to install — just ensure there's room in your car's coolant tank and pour it in. Things don't get much simpler than that, and for this reason Head Gasket Fix is the bestselling head gasket product we've ever developed.

Is a head gasket a big job?

Replacing your head gasket is an extremely time-consuming task because the engine head has to be removed and then replaced. And the more time a mechanic is forced to spend on that job rather than something else, the more they will charge you.

Can you have a blown head gasket without water in the oil?

If a head gasket has failed between the water or oil passage and the outside of the engine, the result can be a simple coolant or oil leak. This is the least dire version of a blown head gasket, but still serious.

Is it OK to drive with milky oil?

The bad news is milky oil can be the sign of a leaking head gasket or an even more severe issue, so you should visit a mechanic. To fix milky oil in your engine, the engine needs to be flushed out with flushing oil.

What does it mean when your oil looks like chocolate milk?

Specifically with the engine coolant system, as engine oil mixing with coolant or water will end up pouring like chocolate milk. When an engine overheats or runs warmer longer than designed, that vital head gasket will start to unseat the coolant ports and ultimately start seeping this coolant over into the oil ports.

What color is the exhaust smoke from a blown head gasket?

The most common sign of a blown head gasket is exhaust smoke. White smoke indicates that your car is burning coolant that is leaking into the cylinders. A similar problem is indicated by blue exhaust smoke, though this is a sign of oil leaking from the gasket.

What is GREY smoke from exhaust?

Blue or Grey Smoke

If the smoke from the exhaust pipe is either grey or bluish-tinged, it generally means that your engine is burning oil inside the combustion chamber. Burning oil could be due to a number of causes, from leaky valve seals to bad piston rings.

Can you have a blown head gasket without losing coolant?

Yes, it's possible. Also, the bit you lost that you think may be a leaking pipe is actually being turned to steam and blown out your exhaust.

When replacing a head gasket What else should I replace?

Other items that will likely be needed to complete a head gasket replacement include coolant, maybe oil, oil filter, spark plugs, hoses and new cylinder head bolts.