Yesterday a friend of my Son came by and asked me about his early 90s Corolla, said it was smoking a lot. Yesterday was cold and most vehicles were putting out a bit more exhaust (more visible, I mean). Anyway, no overheating, a little coolant loss since he checked it last week (about 100 miles, he said). no oil in the coolant, no coolant in the oil, both were perfectly clean. Coolant loss was less than a pint. Car has over 200k on it. But there WAS more steamy exhaust coming from his tailpipe than other vehicles, not a cloud, but more for sure. Not blue, not black, not exactly white, looked like steam from a tea kettle. Question: can a head gasket be failing/failed and have no oil to coolant contamination? Rocketman
Yes
CSA
Yes it certainly CAN…The contamination of the oil or coolant is the marker of Severe head gasket failure however they fail in many modes… If I were you Id buy a $60 bottle of Blue Devil and be done with it… Or you can tear the head off…have it machined and replace the head gasket…your choice… Blue Devil will stop all of this however as it is a rather “soft” failure of the head gasket which you are describing…and Blue Devil can handle much harder failures…and with this vehicles age factored in…id just Devil it…and drive.
Blackbird
Thanks guys! Since it’s not my car (or my Son!) I’m gonna suggest that he get a mechanic to test for combustion gas in the radiator (coolant) before anything more. What is that test called? Also, BB . . . didja ever use the Blue Devil for a head gasket 00problem? Anyone else? Poor high schooler, single-parent family, nice kid. I’d like to help if I can. Rocketman
with bluedevil follow the instrctions on the bottle very carefully.
Thanks guys! I’m gonna gift this fix to him and see how it works. Rocketman