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Blown head gasket -- Coolant spraying out on intake side, between head and block

Is it visibly spraying out from the joint? I had some very scary coolant spray on that side which turned out to be a ripped heater hose.
 
Drain the oil and coolant.

Remove the head: not too difficult on red blocks, thankfully.

Take it to a machine shop to have it checked to see if it's warped.

Make certain all mounting surfaces are very, very clean before putting the new gasket on.

I've done it with and without using Copper Coat Gasket Sealant: it seems to help seal it better than leaving it naked.

Look at the head bolts, replace if questionable.

Follow instructions for torquing bolts, and make certain your torque wrench is calibrated correctly; I did it one time and didn't realize the wrench was way off: epic fail.

I'd consider replacing front seals, timing belt, tensioner, drive belts and any dubious hoses while your're at it, and also clean the intake manifold, esp. the throttle body.
 
Blown head gasket does not equal water in the oil.

I like silver spray paint for gasket sealer. (depending on the gasket composition)

A multi layer steel gasket comes coated with PVC which needs no sealer
 
A crack big enough to spray (not seep) water should be big enough to see. You're also unlikely to crack anything by overheating it for 30 seconds. Warp, maaaaybe. My motor's been overheated more often and for longer than that...

Again, is it visibly spraying from the gasket interface, or is it just wet in that area? Have you ruled out other sources of coolant?

Yes, you can get spray products to help seal gaskets. Apparently some old timers used high-temp silver lacquer spray, since it's made with aluminium particles. Personally I'd go for a purpose-made gasket sealer spray:

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80697-Gasket-Hi-Temp-Adhesive/dp/B000HBNUDQ/
 
Mr. V said:
Drain the oil and coolant.

Remove the head: not too difficult on red blocks, thankfully.

Take it to a machine shop to have it checked to see if it's warped.

Make certain all mounting surfaces are very, very clean before putting the new gasket on.

I've done it with and without using Copper Coat Gasket Sealant: it seems to help seal it better than leaving it naked.

Look at the head bolts, replace if questionable.

Follow instructions for torquing bolts, and make certain your torque wrench is calibrated correctly; I did it one time and didn't realize the wrench was way off: epic fail.

I'd consider replacing front seals, timing belt, tensioner, drive belts and any dubious hoses while your're at it, and also clean the intake manifold, esp. the throttle body.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

All of that is on the list. Also planning to go ahead and replace the head bolts. My biggest concern, honestly, is the exhaust manifold. I'm worried about the studs cracking and needing to be extracted. Everything else looks pretty doable. I'm a bit concerned about my torque wrench, because it's a few years old at this point. (I have a friend who owns a bicycle shop and has told me multiple times that torque wrenches are worthless after a year or so.)

Do you know roughly what I should expect to pay at a machine shop, for inspection and for machining?

Is it likely that I'll need a thicker gasket after machining? I've seen in a few places that it's usually not necessary with this engine.
 
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spraying coolant at that location is more than likely the heater core hose... take the hoses off and check them before you start with the head
 
lingon300k said:
All of that is on the list. Also planning to go ahead and replace the head bolts. My biggest concern, honestly, is the exhaust manifold. I'm worried about the studs cracking and needing to be extracted. Everything else looks pretty doable. I'm a bit concerned about my torque wrench, because it's a few years old at this point. (I have a friend who owns a bicycle shop and has told me multiple times that torque wrenches are worthless after a year or so.)

Do you know roughly what I should expect to pay at a machine shop, for inspection and for machining?

Is it likely that I'll need a thicker gasket after machining? I've seen in a few places that it's usually not necessary with this engine.
Click to expand...

cleaned and decked is usually around $100 near me

never, ever heard that about torque wrenches before. I imagine you could calibrate one roughly if you wanted to.
 
Khrrck said:
A crack big enough to spray (not seep) water should be big enough to see. You're also unlikely to crack anything by overheating it for 30 seconds. Warp, maaaaybe. My motor's been overheated more often and for longer than that...

Again, is it visibly spraying from the gasket interface, or is it just wet in that area? Have you ruled out other sources of coolant?

Yes, you can get spray products to help seal gaskets. Apparently some old timers used high-temp silver lacquer spray, since it's made with aluminium particles. Personally I'd go for a purpose-made gasket sealer spray:

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80697-Gasket-Hi-Temp-Adhesive/dp/B000HBNUDQ/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

That's what I thought, but I know that some engines are more sensitive than others. I have an E46 BMW, and I've heard of many people warping the head on that car from less than ten seconds in the red.

Maybe I shouldn't have said "spray." I'm quite certain it's coming from the gasket interface, but I've not seen it spray out. I'm, say, 95% certain it's coming from between the head and the block. I'll make sure to rule everything else out 100% before moving forward, of course.

I'll definitely take a look at the spray, now that I know about it.
 
Check your heater hoses. Flex them with the engine running (use a stick or wear proper gloves!!!). Mine were OEM. One had been melted into by the dipstick. The other one had an INVISIBLE but nearly 1" long crack down one side. It was spraying coolant all over everything on the intake side, including the headgasket area, but was hidden under the manifold so you didn't really see anything but the results.

I looked all over and couldn't find it. The local shop pumped it up to 20psi and couldn't find it. Finally just replaced that second hose on a hunch and found the crack once it was out of the car.
 
Thanks to those who mentioned the heater core hoses!

I had someone to help me earlier today by pressing the gas while I looked under the hood. Hilariously, the one hose seems to have a tiny hole in it near the hose clamp, and is spraying coolant directly on the seam between the head and block. It's spraying with such a pattern that it's covering the seam, and dripping down. Barely anywhere else.

I was an idiot to immediately assume the head gasket. But, I do prefer looking like an idiot to replacing the head gasket. So that's a plus.
 
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