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Head Gasket
FAQ's
ANSWER:
A head gasket usually fails at its
weakest point. The thinnest point is between the engine
cylinders. If the gasket burns through at this point,
compression from one cylinder leaks into the adjacent cylinder
causing compression loss in both cylinders involved. This causes
a drastic loss in horse power and the engine may be hard to keep
running.
A head gasket can also blow in the
coolant passages causing internal or external coolant leaks. If
the leak is internal it could be leaking into the oil and/or
engine cylinders. Leaking into the oil will dilute the engine
oil causing rapid wear of engine components. Leaking into the
cylinders burns the antifreeze, causing cylinder wall wear by
removing oil, and pumps engine compression into the cooling
system causing excessive pressure that makes the engine overheat
and can damage other cooling system parts.
Another way a head gasket can fail is
in the oil passages. In overhead cam engines the oil that
lubricates the camshaft flows through passages in the cylinder
head, the oil is under high pressure. The oil can leak into the
coolant passages but more often shows up as a large external oil
leak.
Some engines just blow head gaskets by
design, it is almost considered maintenance if you own one of
these. The design of the head along with the size, location and
load on the head bolts has a-lot to do with how long the head
gasket will last.
The final way a head gasket will blow
is improper maintenance. Letting your engine overheat or run hot
by ignoring other cooling system problems can cause the gasket
to blow or the cylinder head to warp. Not changing your coolant
at regular intervals causes the head gasket and the aluminum in
the cylinder head to corrode. See (
Anti-freeze )
