# My mysterious volvo 850

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [June 22, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972 "2013-06-22T03:57:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![abigailpatricia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c37758/32.png) [@abigailpatricia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/abigailpatricia)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972/1 "2013-06-22T03:57:46Z")

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I believe my head gasket is blown, but nooone reallly knows what’s wrong with it…car stalled & then smoke came out the oil tank an coolant tank an muffler I just got this car used a month ago… an none of the boys have any idea where to start… I need some advice & priced out parts

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**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972/2 "2013-06-22T04:02:32Z")

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A mechanic can tell you for sure whether the head gasket is kaput or not. They have a variety of tests they can do which will tell you one way or the other. Find a good inde mechanic and ask for a diagnosis on the head gasket. That’s the first place to start.

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**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972/3 "2013-06-22T05:10:05Z")

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Just for kicks check the pcv valve.

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**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/my-mysterious-volvo-850/79972/4 "2013-06-22T05:20:17Z")

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There’s no way to provide a definitive answer to your questions.

If the car was overheating and it got hot enough to blow a head gasket i would run a dry compression test first followed up by a wet compression test. The latter will give an indication of whether piston rings are damaged; and they often are on an overheated engine. This test will not work on a head gasket breach into a cylinder but will reveal whether any alleged good cylinders are really any good.

This is what makes changing a head gasket only a very iffy proposition. Money is expended doing the head gasket and then it may be found that the entire engine has gone south.