Driving with a blown head gasket can cause irreparable damage to the engine. In fact, the blown head gasket alone is serious engine damage. McCurley’s Shell advises that it takes a partial engine rebuild to restore the engine if the head gasket has cracked. Do not worry. We can replace a blown head gasket at our shop. Just make sure to have your vehicle towed to our shop at the first sign of trouble.
Reduced Coolant Level
The reason why we recommend that you have the vehicle towed is when the head gasket cracks, it reduces the coolant level in the engine. The coolant will start to flow through the crack into the cylinders in the cylinder block. Unfortunately, this leaves you with a low coolant level and an overheating engine. You can add coolant to the cooling system, but it, too, will leak through the crack in the head gasket.
Constant Overheating
Consequently, you can count on the fact that your engine is going to overheat constantly until you replace the head gasket. Naturally, any time the engine is starved of coolant, the temperature reaches well above 220 degrees Fahrenheit. As we mentioned, adding coolant to the engine will not help. Rather, you need to have the head gasket replaced to prevent the coolant from leaking out of the engine.
The engine is also going to overheat because it will be exposed to the heat that is produced in the combustion chamber. Normally, the head gasket protects the engine from this heat. Because the head gasket has a crack in it, that heat will escape out of the combustion chamber by rising through the crack. Consequently, this double-whammy of low coolant and too much heat will overheat your engine.
Milky/Diluted Motor Oil
There will also be additional damage because the motor oil gets diluted by the coolant when the head gasket cracks. Unfortunately, this leaves the motor oil unable to protect the engine and draw heat and dirt away from it. As this combination of the two auto fluids circulates through the engine, it will damage the engine further than it is already damaged.
White Engine Exhaust
Finally, if you see that your vehicle’s exhaust has turned white, this is a sign that the head gasket is cracked. The coolant creates the white exhaust when it burns in the cylinders.
McCurley’s Shell in Atlanta, GA, is here to help. Call us today if you believe you’ve got a blown head gasket in the engine.