Iposted a few days ago about the radiator on my 96 Dodge Pickup and all is well and now pressurized. Found a leak in the hose go figure. This question is about a possible head gasket being blown. My mechanic had my truck for a day and says I nothing to worry about. However I think I have more steam coming out of my exhaust than usual. May be I’m paranoid we just went through this with my wifes car and she needed a new head gasket. Same symptoms same mechanic. He is a very reputable person and very honest. After doing some reading here I tried onw of the tests for a blown head gasket. Took all plugs out and cranked engine to see if any antifreeze blows out. None did. The truck does not miss nor does it smoke/steam after warm up. Spark plugs looked like new and I was able to look into every spark plug hole into the cylinder head to inspect and saw no moisture. So do I have a problem or not and is there another test I can perform to check for head gasket problems. My concern is next month I have to use this truck to drive 600 miles and back to visit family. Maybe I’m OK but really nervous about going on that trip. Please give me some advice.
bcarll
Chances are, you are okay.
Additional tests are a compression test (low readings on adjacent cylinders is usually a blown headgasket, just one low reading may be) and testing for exhaust gases in the coolant (a.k.a. a block test). Of course, you need to check the oil and coolant for any intermingling of the two.