Knowing the head gasket is devastating to your car, truck, or utility vehicle’s engine. To be completely honest, we will need to partially rebuild the engine in order to replace the head gasket. This extensive repair is worth it if you want to keep your automobile because it has special meaning to you. The most important thing is to get to our shop as soon as possible so you don’t cause additional engine damage. Let’s talk more about this below.
Diluted Motor Oil
Unfortunately, one of the first things that happens when the head gasket blows is the coolant and motor oil mix. This leaves you with diluted motor oil that is leaking into the cylinders and circulating through the engine. As the motor oil continues to leak into the cylinders, the oil in the engine gets too low. Consequently, this can cause additional damage to the engine that is severe.
Leaking Coolant
The coolant will also leak into the cylinders. This means that the coolant level in the cooling system will be reduced. Unfortunately, this will leave you with an overheating engine, which we will talk about more below. The head gasket prevents the oil and coolant from leaking into the cylinders. When it blows, it cracks. Consequently, this makes it easy for these fluids to leak.
Overheating Engine
The engine may have already been overheating. Heat is an enemy to the head gasket and the most common reason why it will crack. Once the head gasket cracks and you start losing coolant, the engine is going to get hotter. Your temperature gauge will definitely rise to the red zone. This means your engine is running hotter than 220 degrees Fahrenheit.
In addition, the engine can get so hot that the coolant will start to boil. This builds up pressure inside the radiator and blows the cap. It is critical that you avoid driving your automobile while the engine is overheating. Rather, if you believe that you have blown the head gasket, pull over and stop the engine. Call for a tow truck to bring your vehicle to our shop.
White Exhaust Smoke
Finally, you may see white exhaust smoke in your rearview mirror while you are driving if you have a blown head gasket. The reason why your engine is producing white exhaust is that the coolant is burning in the cylinders. The white exhaust may also look slightly blue because the motor oil is burning, as well.
Call our shop today to set up a service visit if you believe you’ve got a blown head gasket.
