Head Gasket

Once the head gasket blows or becomes damaged, your car will officially become a time bomb of serious mechanical destruction. The longer your vehicle is operated with a blown head gasket, the more damage is likely to occur to the engine. Once the head gasket blows there will be an immediate loss of pressure in the engine. As mentioned above, the head gasket acts as a seal, maintaining pressure in the piston chamber. Once the head gasket blows, pressure can escape. Since the pressure in the combustion chamber is what keeps the pistons firing with force, the driver should notice an immediate loss of power and notice other performance issues such as decreased fuel efficiency. When the head gasket blows, the oil and coolant passageways will start to leak, allowing both liquids to enter places where they do not belong and causing more extensive damage. Coolant can enter the combustion chambers and mix with motor oil, causing dilution of the motor oil while at the same time robbing coolant from the cooling system, ultimately causing the engine to overheat. Coolant is not a lubricant, so the more coolant that mixes with the motor oil, the less lubricated are the moving parts of a car and the more quickly disaster is likely to happen.

The head gasket in effect seals the cylinder head to the cylinder block of the car. It ensures that pressure inside the cylinder chambers stays optimal. It also prevents oil or water leaks from occurring where the water and oil channels of the cylinder head and block meet. The part is therefore an extremely important part of the engine as it can make the difference between an engine running well, or badly.

The Head Gasket is the gasket (thin sheet of metal creating a perfect seal) that sits between the engine block and the cylinder head the section of the engine which fits over the cylinders.

A blown Head Gasket means that the seal between the cylinders and the other parts of the engine (most commonly the cooling system) has been broken. This can lead to rough running and, more significantly, overheating, which can cause significant engine damage..

First, it can foul spark plugs and make your engine run poorly due to the deposits left by burning coolant. Leaking coolant and combustion gases can cause high temperature gradients leading to erosion of the leak area and possible cracking. For all these reasons we don't recommend driving with a blown head gasket. How do you know if your Head Gasket is going? Common symptoms of a blown head gasket include the following: 1. External leaks of coolant from under the exhaust gasket. 2. Overheating under the hood. 3. Smoke blowing from the exhaust with a white tint. 4. Depleted coolant levels with no trace of leakage. 5. Bubble formations in the radiator and overflow compartment.

It isn't cheap to fix a blown head gasket to repair the head gasket, a mechanic has to disassemble the top portion of the engine and the process often takes a few days to complete. Does a blown head gasket ruin an engine? The main cause for a blown or damaged head gasket is extreme engine temperature. High engine temperatures are often caused by a coolant leak or just not having enough coolant in the radiator. It is important to note that different head gaskets will falter at different stages and temperatures. Can a bad thermostat cause a blown head gasket? A head gasket failure may be caused by an engine overheating one too many times as a result of a clogged radiator, coolant leak, faulty fan, but the blown head gasket can also cause the engine to overheat.

1. Overheating The biggest cause of a blown head gasket is overheating. Usually, the head gasket around the cylinders can become crushed, and if this happens, the seal is lost, and your engine will lose compression, leak coolant, and the gasket will erode. Before replacing the head gasket, it’s vital that you find the cause of the overheating. It could be due to coolant leaks in the engine, the hoses, the radiator, or the water pump. These must be found and repaired. It could also be due to the cooling fan not working or the radiator being clogged. Again, these need to be fixed or, likely, you’ll end up with another blown head gasket again shortly after your repair. 2. Installation Error If you’ve had a blown head gasket replaced on your car and solved the problem of why it blew in the first place, the likely cause this time will be installation error. This is not particularly uncommon. The head bolts need to be tightened in the correct sequence and set to the proper torque. They also need to have clean threads that aren’t stretched or damage. The cylinder head surfaces and engine block also need to be smooth, clean, and flat. Any one of these factors, or a combination of them, can cause a blown head gasket. Remember, too, that sealer should only be used on non-coated, one-piece steel head gaskets. However, establishing this as the cause can be difficult. You’ll need to eliminate other possibilities first. 3. Hot Spots There are engines that are prone to hot spots between the centre cylinders in the cylinder head, although aftermarket head gaskets for these engines are reinforced to lessen the possibility of a blown head gasket. However, if you have an older car, the hot spot could be the cause especially if your old head gasket has been replaced by one that’s not reinforced. 4. Pre-ignition Problems Pre-ignition problems can cause this problem as well, especially if you only use your car for city driving. With pre-ignition, there’s a hot spot in the chamber which causes ignition of the fuel before the spark plug has a chance to fire. It could also be due to detonation. This happens if the spark timing is too advanced or the fuel mixture isn’t rich enough. It causes carbon deposits to build up and ultimately erodes and blows the part. 5. Bad Head Gasket In some cases, the original head gasket for the car can just be very badly designed and the poor design can cause a blown head gasket over a period. A little research will establish if your vehicle is prone to poor designs. Once you replace it with a good head gasket, you should not experience any further failures.

Sometimes, the worst part of getting your car fixed is having to bring it to the garage. We are therefore happy to offer our customers a free collection and delivery service If you prearrange a collection, we will pick your car up from your home or place of work and drive it to our premises, carry out all the necessary work (having consulted you) and deliver it back to you at the end of the day.

We are able to tow, jump start or repair your vehicle if you are experiencing problems or broken down for a small fee. If we can't sadly start your vehicle, we can contact a local recovery firm to collect your vehicle for a very competitive price.

• Don't want to waste your day off?
• You don't have the time to take your car in for a service or repairs?
• Have you got problems with getting to and from the garage?

Here at Car Services in Reading, we believe that we offer a valuable product with our Free Collection and Delivery Service, we can collect either from your place of work or from your home address. If you are unsure about whether the address you are considering having your vehicle collected from is not within our range, then please do contact us.

Car Services in Reading operate a fleet of pool cars with a dedicated driver, so wherever we are collecting from, we need to be able to leave one of our pool vehicles either in your work car park / parking space, or if in a residential area, we would need to be able to leave our car either at your house or on the road with a permit if required. We would be grateful if you could bear this in mind when booking to use our free Collection and delivery service