Has Your Head Gasket Really Gone Bad?

The last words any car owner wants to hear at a repair shop is they need a head gasket. It is not a cheap repair and often is a predictor of future problems down the road. The question in many cases, however, is whether a faulty gasket is actually the problem.

The head gasket performs a critical task in the modern internal combustion engine. It is the seal between the engine block and the engine head. More specifically, this is what creates the seal that closes off the cylinder combustion chambers. It keeps coolant and water out and oil in. It also creates a tight enough seal that the combustion chamber can be pressurized to the maximum efficiency to produce power when the gas and air mixture is fired by the spark plug. Basically, the head gasket is the most critical gasket in your car.

The head gasket is a funny thing when it comes to engines. It has to be put on just right. This would seem to suggest that it needs to be cranked down as hard as possible to perfect a seal. That really isn't the case. Instead, every car comes with recommended specifications and a torque wrench needs to be used. Get it too loose and unintended substances can get into the cylinders. Get it to tight and you destroy the gasket or warp/fracture the engine head.

So, do you really have a head gasket problem? Well, you need to be vigilant. It is easy to tell if you have a problem in the head gasket AREA just by running the engine, but nobody can really tell if the head gasket needs replacing until the engine head is removed. The first step should be to check the bolts again and make sure they are torqued as specified. You would be surprised how many times this cures the problem.

Assuming retightening the head doesn't do the trick, it is time to take a look at your exhaust. Most people assume black exhaust is a bad sign. It isn't. It just means your engine is running rich. White or gray exhaust is really what you want to watch for. It usually means there is a more serious problem in the head gasket area. The problem can be a bad head gasket, but it is just as likely to mean a bad head. Modern engines used lighter materials for the engine head and many of them can suffer small cracks as the wear and tear of the engine builds up.

The bad new is there is really no way to know the specific problem until the head is yanked off the engine. At that point, you are already on your way to an expensive repair. Fixing the head gasket and head does not involve expensive parts, but it takes a lot of time. Mechanics charge by the hour, so you can expect the bill to be pretty high.

Problems around the head of the engine in your car do not necessarily mean that the top part of the engine is a mess. First check to make sure the bolts on the head are tightened to the specified figures. If that doesn't work, take a look at your bank balance, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for expensive, bad news.

Dirk Gibson is with DCJAutoParts.com - find high performance aftermarket car parts that will make your engine per like kitten and perform like a Puma.

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