can a car drive with a blown head gasket

[LeArabella]

No, you should not drive a car with a blown head gasket. While the vehicle might start and move for a short distance, continuing to drive is extremely risky and will cause severe, often catastrophic, engine damage. The head gasket is a critical seal between the engine block and cylinder head. When it fails, it allows engine coolant to mix with engine oil (and vice versa) and can let compression leak from the cylinders. Driving even a few miles can lead to hydro-lock (where liquid coolant enters a cylinder, preventing the piston from moving and potentially bending connecting rods), overheating that warps the cylinder head, or complete engine failure due to lubrication breakdown.

The primary risks of driving with a blown head gasket include:

Risk Factor	Consequence	Likelihood of Major Damage
Coolant Contamination	Engine oil turns into a milky sludge, losing its ability to lubricate. This causes rapid wear on bearings, camshafts, and other internal parts.	Very High
Overheating	Coolant loss leads to immediate overheating. A warped cylinder head from overheating often doubles the repair cost.	Extremely High
Loss of Compression	Engine runs rough, loses power, and stalls. Unburned fuel can damage the catalytic converter.	High
Hydrostatic Lock	Liquid coolant entering a combustion chamber can stop the piston, potentially bending a connecting rod and destroying the engine.	Moderate, but catastrophic

Your immediate action should be to stop driving and have the car towed to a repair shop. A professional diagnosis will confirm the failure. The repair itself is labor-intensive, but driving any further turns a costly repair into a complete engine replacement.

[DiWillow]

Look, I’ve seen it happen. The car might chug along for a bit, maybe even get you home if you’re real close. But it’s a ticking time bomb. You’ll see white smoke pouring out the tailpipe, the temperature gauge will spike, and it’ll feel like it’s running on three cylinders. Every second that engine runs with mixed oil and coolant, it’s grinding itself to pieces from the inside. Call a tow truck. It’s cheaper than a new engine.

[HoldenLynn]

From a technical standpoint, the engine can mechanically operate, but it is operating in a failed state. The compromised seal disrupts the precise conditions required for internal combustion—proper compression, clean lubrication, and controlled temperature. The engine is essentially poisoning itself. Coolant in the oil passages and combustion chambers causes abrasive wear and chemical contamination. The only safe procedure is to cease operation immediately to conduct a leak-down test and visual inspection of the spark plugs and oil to assess the damage.

[OLogan]

I made this mistake once. I thought, "I just need to get to the shop, it's only five miles." That five-mile drive cost me an engine. The oil turned into a chocolate milkshake and lost all its lubricating properties. By the time I got there, the mechanic said the bottom end was already knocking from bearing damage. The tow fee I tried to save ended up being a drop in the bucket compared to a used engine swap. Don't be me. Get it towed.