We had to take the head off of a friends Evo and we are just curious to know what a blown head gasket looks like. We don't know the difference in a good one and a blown one. He thinks he had symptoms of a blown head gasket, but sometimes he just gets paranoid about little stuff happening to his car.

I will be posting pics up soon of what the head gasket looks like.

Thanks

 

Visually inspect for oil/coolant around the head, white smoke is also a symptom.

 

u can see if oil and coolent mixed together also thats a cause for a bad HG

 

sometimes boost would even get into your coolent reserve tank it happened to me before and the coolent cap Blew off and i got burned

 

You can drain the oil and see / smell coolant. Do a compression test before pulling the head. Don't pull it because you think it's a head gasket.

 

look for damage around every little ring the slightest little nick dent split etc in the gasket is a sign of it being blown. napa sells what you call a block tester to test headgaskets it uses a special fluid that changes colors when combustion gases get into the raidiator (hint blown headgasket). it works really well i would look into that and see whats going on. you can also take the radiator cap off and start the car if coolant gushes out then its a problem but the radiator has to be full. also have it full start the car and watch for bubbles in the coolant a constant bubble in the radiator after 15 20 minutes is a way also.

 

If you put the new one and the old one side to side and could not find anything different, then I'd check if you have a warped head or block.
A tear or deformity on the gasket would be easily seen.

What kind of symptoms was your friend having that made him pull the head??
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Was the car burning any coolant prior to taking the head off?The car burning up the coolant is a good indication that the head gasket is bad.Thats what happen to me before on my old car.

 

1500 rpm

 

im thinking i may have a blown gasket..no white smoke.just seems to suck fluid from the reserve tank .i just did a overhaul on cooling system and my defi water temp fluctuates at wot or partial throttle driving but will idle at 190 .it fluctuates between 170 and 200 .depending on tps.could this be a sign.gonna do a compression test and leakdown and go from there.stock redone head on stroker.only has 3k miles give or take a few 100..

 

Using water like this usually means you have a leak. I reciently had the same problem and it was the radiator cap that was leaking and dumping coolant on top of the radiator.

The most common symptom of a blown head gasket is air leaking into the cooling system pushing coolant into the jug. This may happen only at full boost.

 

if its eating coolant then pop off the valve cover and check torque spec on the studs. only do this after letting it sit over night tho.

 

compresion test will give clues...also coolant...just replace not to expensive...also check for head warping should be good to go..