As some may remember 11-27-12 my van was down due to a head Gasket seal causing overheating. My B.S. Mechanic had given up on my car and after getting frustrated I decided to get another car but I wasn't giving up on my Venture.
View 14 RepliesI just finished replacing the head gaskets and all gaskets above it on my Chevy Venture. When I went to start the vehicle the first time nothing happens. The dashlights come on, but when I turn the key to start nothing happens. No clicking, no nothing. I have tested the battery...OK. I have tested the starter...OK. I have traced the wiring harness to ensure all wires are plugged in. I have checked all the fuses. I thought maybe its the gear switch so I changed down to 1st and then back up to Park...Nothing. I jiggled while in park..Nothing. Could it be the actual ignition switch? It was fine before this escapade.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2003 Honda Civic with 140k miles. It has a leaking head gasket which is causing the engine to overheat when driving slower without airflow to cool the engine.
I would love to drive the car to 200k+ miles but if this is the first of many pricey fixes I want to cut my losses.
The problem is my new-to-me 97 Ford F150 5.4L SOHC engine, auto transmission, is overheating after driving it for a short while. Seems to be fine at idle. I have read previous posts with the exact same issue, but the consistency seems to be all over the map from burping the system, head gasket, thermostat, and possibly a plugged radiator.
Backstory:200,000+ miles.
Truck sat for 6 months after previous owner broke the shift cable.
Truck was in a front end collision. Frame looks bent underneath the engine.
Previous owner had overheating problem. He said he changed the heater core. Looks like brand new coolant in the system so story probably checks out. Desperately needs an oil change. Very black oil.
Previous owner thought the system needed a burping. So I'm largely assuming the problem started after the heater core change, or he misdiagnosed an overheating problem and thought the heater core could cause it. I have found a radiator cap and thermostat in the truck which seems to indicate he tried many things to fix the overheating and was unsuccessful. Engine looks pretty clean for the miles.
Symptoms/Backyard Tests :
Blows cold air with heat on highest level and on defrost.
Blender door fuse intact.
Doesn't overheat at idle.
Ran the truck for 15 mins with the coolant bottle fill cap off on level ground to try to burp it after draining some coolant and checking the thermostat orientation. Coolant level increased in the bottle. Large air bubbles came out. (Another session before this one, I ran it for 30 minutes with no coolant cap, and eventually coolant overflowed the fill bottle. Normal or no?)
Seems to overheat after the thermostat opens. After doing the 15 minute warm up/burp, I took it for a test drive. I drove it about 20 blocks with the temperature gauge on the dash reading the same as the warmed-up idle temperature. Got to the 20th block and the gauge immediately spiked to overheat with the oil pressure dash light coming on. I could be mistaken as the oil pressure light almost looks exactly like the overheat dash light. But I'm pretty sure the temperature icon was on the right side of the oil can icon and not the left.
After the above drive: Upper rad hose too hot to touch.
After the above drive: Lower rad hose medium warm. Could hold on to it if I felt like it.
After the above drive: Upper part of rad pretty hot. Not Insta-burn but hot. Tempature decreases to warm to cool as you go lower down the rad.
After the above drive: Both heater core hoses going to the cab luke warm.
Coolant looks brand new.
Radiator looks slightly bowed. Probably from the accident? Otherwise looks clean and minimal bent fins.
Drained some coolant and pulled the upper rad hose to see if the thermostat was upside down. Looks installed correctly.
No signs of weep hole leaks from the water pump.
Fan seems solid. Has maybe 1-2mm of play in the bearings.
Something that looked like steam from the muffler at startup, that disappeared after getting closer to a normal range warm engine.
I have driven crap cars for many years and I've never seen a plugged radiator which makes me skeptical of it being that. All the radiators I have changed were because they were eventually leaking from cracks in the radiator.
I would also be interested in doing an informal poll if you have read this far and have had this era of F150 that overheated. Have you ever repaired the head gasket? And/or have you ever changed the radiator?
Recently bought a 2001. In the process of reading about this engine I discovered there is a some what regular breakdown of head gaskets causing water to leak into cylinders and oil pan, all of which is serious.
Given the vehicle is 12 years old and has 89K miles it appears it is in the age and range of where this leakage can occur. Any knowledgeable engine rebuilders that are familiar with this issue on the 4.2 have any comments???
1. Can this issue be avoided by replacing head gaskets now rather than waiting for future failure???
2. Are there new and improved head gaskets for this motor???
3. Does the problem occur on both heads gaskets?
4. Is that all that needs to be done or are there other seals that need replacement???
My dad has a 97 Dodge Neon 4 cylinder. The car has been leaking oil, and on Sat the leak grew and was real bad. He took it to the only shop he could find open who put it up on the lift and said the leak was coming from the front of the engine. On monday they did the work ($286) and told my dad it was a seal on the front of the engine behind the flywheel. My dad is old and doesn't hear well and the mechanics english was not real strong and his writing on the recepit is not real clear. As I am worried my dad might have gotten taken, is there a replaceable seal on the front of the engine that could go and cause a leak? They showed my dad the leak as the car was on the lift and running as that was only when the leak occured. I am concerned my dad was taken. He says he drove it around and such and didn't see any leaking when he picked it up and left it running in his drivway for a while upon getting home and no leak. Just wondering?
View 11 RepliesGeo Metro loose head bolts... I have a 96 Metro, and for some reason the head bolts loosen by themselves, leading to over heating and planing head ... well you know.I had a farm for 20 years and took care of all equipment myself, have rebuilt numerous motors, but this geo is the first I have seen where the bolts loosen. This is the third time. I know they are tightened right , because I have the tools and experience, but not with this. Other than jb weld in the bolt holes.
View 7 RepliesI took my gs350 for a drain and fill today. Before They did anything, The service advisor called and told me the pan gasket is leaking along with a seal? I am aware of the gasket on the pan but wasn't able to get any info on the seal. Is it a seal that is replaced regardless of leak or not if they drop the pan?
Got quoted 700+tax for pan drop, replace gasket and said seal with fill of fluid.
Is this normal or do I have a leak? Noticed this white stuff just like what you would find on the coolant cap, as well as this red stuff too.
View 7 RepliesAfter reading some posts I think my passat could have the cam seal and valve cover gasket leaking. I smell burning oil when stopped. How much should this repair cost if I go to an indy repair shop?
View 3 RepliesI drove my car after the check engine light came on, stupidly without looking at the temperature gauge. When the car died, I had blown the head gasket, melted the spark plugs and did some other pretty serious damage to the engine. So now I am contemplating replacing the engine instead of buying a new car since I drive very infrequently (I take transit to work and do a lot of business travel by air). The car is 10 years old and only has 72,000 miles on it. The body is in good shape as well.
View 9 RepliesI have a 1995 GMC Sonoma pickup truck with supposedly a blown cylinder head gasket. It only has 53K original miles on it. It overheated and I had it towed to a service shop. They put in a new water pump, new coolant, new thermostat, new radiator hose and did an oil & filter change. Well, 100 miles later, I noticed my water coolant was disappearing and the oil pressure was rising. I brought it back to the same shop and after looking at it for five minutes they informed me it was a blown cylinder head gasket. They said they had no way to determine this when they were doing the repairs the first time. So, I ask the following:
1-Was it proper for the shop to do the first repair without checking for a potential head gasket leak?
2-Is there some type of testing that could have been done by the repair shop to check for coolant leaks into the engine oil? 3-Would I have saved money (labor) by having this taken care of at the time of the initial repair?
My Subaru dealer just told me that my 2004 outback with 88k miles has developed a head gasket leak. I haven't noticed any symptoms, and the leak started sometime between now and my last major service 10k miles ago. How serious is this? They want to charge me for it? If so, when? Is disaster imminent?
View 7 RepliesI have a 1998 volvo s70 with 273k on it. I am pretty sure the head gasket is blown. The shop I usually take my car to said i need to take it to a dealer and that volvo usually wants to replace the engine on a car that old. Would you pay the 6k for a new engine or think about a new car?
View 8 RepliesI just recently had problems with my V6 accord, is been overheating, I just know that is the head gasket because it has all symptoms, creamy appearance in engine oil cap. vapor and the end pipes after hours of running and multiple misfire, no thermostat and still overheating with no leakages.
I add a block sealer and now the car is working fine (Block Seal, Head Gasket Repair, Bar's Leaks brand).
I would like to replace the head gasket in my V6, but I was told that I need to the surface finish to flat the head and in the lower part too (block), is this correct?
I know that this must be done in the upper part (head) but never heard that this must be done also in the lower part (block).
I have a 2007 accord V6 Engine 4 door sedan SE.
I was surprised by a leak and identified where the water was coming from, the bottom of my vehicle. It's from a gasket or seal on the front of the pan near the flywheel. 1994 Ford Explorer 4X4.
View 6 RepliesSo I've replaced my head gasket on my 5SFE. But after putting my car back together, my car didn't want start. This is how it sounds like (click on the video to watch it).
So I suspected that my timing was off, so I took off the valve cover to check the timing marks on the camshafts. So the two timing punches lined up like so (I only took picture of one of them)
Though I'm not too sure what the two dots mean on the exhaust camshaft since there are not two similar dots on the intake camshaft.
So I'll assume that I have my camshafts lined up properly But how do I know that it is in time with the pistons?
Could it be the distributor? I am not too sure if I installed it correctly, but I did follow instructions in the Chilton manual.
On the other end, there were two vacuum lines that I'm not sure if I installed correctly. I'm positive that the left two pipes are correct; however, I'm not too sure about the two on the right. This is mounted on the cylinder head.
I have a 06' JGC with the 5.7L Hemi w/80k and about a month ago I noticed a little smoke under the hood after driving, I found an oil leak and it's running down the passenger side of the rear main seal but the leak is above the seal. I had the shop put die in it and they dont know for sure but they belive it is the head gasket. There is no water in the oil but they said that doesnt matter. Apparently the heads cant be resurfaced on hemi's but they have to be checked to make sure they are in spec.
View 2 RepliesI have a 2000 Toyota corolla with about 170,000 miles and it is using about one quart of oil every 500 miles. The last couple places I took it to said the compression was bad in the number 4 cylinder. Another place said it was a leaking head gasket. Which is most likely, and is it worth getting it repaired given its age and mileage?
View 13 RepliesI recently had $1600+ of work done on my 2005 Mazda 3 (L4 2.0L). R&R Head Gasket and Thermostat and Coolant Temperature sensor replaced. Since then it's been idling roughly. This was NOT occurring prior to the work. Mechanic says it needs a couple of weeks to "sync"? Does this makes sense? I'm wondering if they did something wrong to cause the problem.
View 9 RepliesHave a 2000 Alero. Mechanic says oil on ground is from leaking head gasket. $3000 to repair, or buy rebuilt engine for about the same. I thought head gasket leaks were into the coolant, not outside. Is this legit, including the cost? Valve cover gaskets were replaced earlier this year. Should I get another opinion? Other possible sources of leak?
View 2 Replies