What are the symptoms of a blown engine cylinder head gasket?
2 Answers
Failure manifestations after the cylinder head gasket is blown: Due to different locations of the gasket damage, the symptoms of failure vary. If the engine cylinder communicates with the cooling water jacket or the lubricating oil passage, yellow-black oil foam will float on the upper surface of the coolant in the radiator, or there will be obvious water in the oil pan. When these two types of gas channeling are severe, the exhaust will contain water or engine oil. In addition to the above phenomena, there are also the following symptoms: 1. Bubbles appear: High-pressure gas from the gas-oil passage enters the lubricating oil passage connected between the engine block and the cylinder head. The oil temperature in the oil pan remains high during engine operation, the oil viscosity becomes thin, the pressure decreases, and the oil deteriorates quickly. The oil sent to the valve train in the upper part of the cylinder head clearly contains bubbles. 2. Insufficient power: Gas channeling between two adjacent cylinders. Without opening the decompression, when turning the crankshaft, it feels like the pressure in both cylinders is insufficient. When starting the engine, there is a phenomenon of black smoke, the engine speed drops significantly, and the power output is insufficient.
Last time I was driving, I suddenly felt something was wrong with the car. The throttle response was noticeably weak, and acceleration felt sluggish. Later, I noticed the temperature gauge skyrocketing, almost hitting the redline. The most obvious sign was thick white smoke continuously billowing from the exhaust pipe, like a sauna. When I turned on the AC, there was a sickly sweet smell. After pulling over and checking the dipstick, I found the engine oil had turned milky white, resembling latte foam. The mechanic confirmed it was definitely a blown head gasket—coolant had leaked into the cylinders. He warned that continuing to drive could have damaged the piston rings. That repair cost me nearly half a month’s salary, and worse, I almost broke down on the highway—still gives me chills thinking about it. My advice: if you see abnormal engine temperature, pull over immediately and check. Don’t push your luck.
