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Trust My Mechanic

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head gasket repair

Blown Head Gasket?

Austin Davis, November 22, 2013September 29, 2014

head gasket repairHi Austin. My car overheated and I let it cool, filled with water & babied to shop (5 miles) Had water pump replaced.

Mechanic called & reported blown head gasket, blowing white smoke after he replaced pump ($250) (was not blowing smoke when I drove it to him) Couldn’t afford another $700 for head gasket replace so I drove home

He said I didn’t have to carry extra water with me because new water pump & i wouldn’t loose water (7 miles)  I drove home and water disappeared from radiator & car started overheating, didn’t want to stay running at a stop lite. will the K&W work for me?  Thank you in advance for your help  I appreciate you.

Vicki

 

Hello there Vicki
Yes the sealer should work for a blown head gasket in this vehicle, but use it as per my instructions not that on the can.  Before you do though, I am not really convinced you have a head gasket issue just yet. Something seems odd about this to me.  I would really like you to get a second opinion first, but I don’t want you to drive the vehicle…or at least not too far, and definitely do not let it over heat again.

So you might want to do this.

1. Park in a dry spot so you can see if any water drips from the engine
2. Fill the radiator with water
3. Start the engine and let the vehicle idle for about 2 minutes
4. With engine running turn on the heater full blast
5. Turn off engine, let cool a few minutes and recheck the water level in the radiator and top off as needed.
6. Start engine and let idle with hood up, watch temp gauge and look and listen for the electric cooling fan motor to come on at the radiator. It should come on as engine temp rises.
7. Look under the vehicle for any water leaks

Do you have any white smoke coming out the tailpipe? Is the engine overheating? Is there water dripping from the engine on the ground?

If you answered no to the above, take the vehicle for a short trip around the block. Does it overheat, white smoke out tailpipe, run ok?  Take some water with you just encase, and shut engine off if temp gauge goes out of normal range.

The electric radiator cooling fan at the radiator should be on if the engine is overheating.

If you see water from the engine on the ground, you most likely have an external coolant leak like a radiator hose, heater hose etc.  If you can not see the source of the leak, get another mechanic to do a cooling system pressure test for you.

Now, if you see white smoke out the tailpipe, engine runs bad and misses during this test then yes you might have a head gasket issue and should use the sealer.  Hopefully this mechanic jumped to conclusions and you do not.

Here is my head gasket sealer video again

Keep me posted.

Blessings,
Austin Davis

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Head Gasket Repair

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