Blown head gasket??
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,004
Likes: 27
From: South Louisiana offshore, Gulf of Mexico
Blown head gasket??
Neighbor bought a C4 on craigslist and trying to help him out. The local shop claims it has a "cracked head gasket" but I want to see for myself.
The oil is clean and smells like oil, the coolant is full and smells like antifreeze, the car runs fine
How can I test for a blown head gasket??
The oil is clean and smells like oil, the coolant is full and smells like antifreeze, the car runs fine
How can I test for a blown head gasket??
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,004
Likes: 27
From: South Louisiana offshore, Gulf of Mexico
The shop says they did a compression test but if you have 1 cylinder low how do you determine head gasket versus rings or valves?
The C4 owner is not mechanically inclined at all,
The C4 owner is not mechanically inclined at all,
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 7,999
Likes: 14
From: Life is just one big track event. Everything before and after is prep and warm-up and cool-down laps
Cruise-In III Veteran
Cruise-In IV Veteran
St. Jude Donor '12
Definitive test is to test for disolved exhaust gasses in the coolant.
Seems to be a special order for the kit from the standard autoparts stores.
What year is the car?
What is it doing to make anyone suspect there is a problem?
Seems to be a special order for the kit from the standard autoparts stores.
What year is the car?
What is it doing to make anyone suspect there is a problem?
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 5,866
Likes: 60
From: Hellinois
Finalist 2020 C4 of the Year - Modified
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,004
Likes: 27
From: South Louisiana offshore, Gulf of Mexico
Thats what I was thinking
Thats what I asked the owner
I know we can get a pump to pressurize the coolant system to ?psi thru the radiator cap so if a leaking head gasket it will either push coolant outside the block or into the cylinder which we obviously don't want
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,482
Likes: 3
From: Carmichael ca
Go to your local NAPA store and buy a block tester kit. You put the blue fluid in the plastic tube. Put the tube in place of the rad cap and run the prewarmed up engine. If the fluid turns green or yellow, there is exhaust gases in the coolent. It may take a couple of minutes, but this is the test I use.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,004
Likes: 27
From: South Louisiana offshore, Gulf of Mexico
You know how a shop is, they don't tell you #1@156, #2@165 etc
This sounds like the diffinitive answer
It's amazing how you can learn anything you need on the internet
Go to your local NAPA store and buy a block tester kit. You put the blue fluid in the plastic tube. Put the tube in place of the rad cap and run the prewarmed up engine. If the fluid turns green or yellow, there is exhaust gases in the coolent. It may take a couple of minutes, but this is the test I use.
It's amazing how you can learn anything you need on the internet
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,061
Likes: 99
From: Seattle WA
Go to your local NAPA store and buy a block tester kit. You put the blue fluid in the plastic tube. Put the tube in place of the rad cap and run the prewarmed up engine. If the fluid turns green or yellow, there is exhaust gases in the coolent. It may take a couple of minutes, but this is the test I use.
only way to do it. Pressure testing the cooling system only tells you if you have a cooling system leak (15 psi). Combustion pressures are 1,000's of PSI. Get the NAPA block tester (balkamp 700-1006). It's very easy to use.
