can you tell by looking at a head gasket, its reason for failure?

[StockLX]

Just looking at my head gaskets and trying to figure out why they blew.

Is it possible to tell by looking at them what could be the reason for the blow? cyl 1, 4(taking on water real bad) , 5,8 all had distortion on the gasket ring (like all wavy and out of round, also seperating from the gasket material), and number 4 was blown right through (easy to see, the piston was very clean). Now im wondering is there any process of elimination, or any tell tale signs of why this gasket could have blown?

 

[Rick 91GT]

Yes the gasket tells a lot, is this a NA or Boosted application? Is the gasket distorted more towards a peticular side of the motor like the intake or exhaust?

It is weird that is was all 4 corners...check the alignment dowels if this is a fresh motor to make sure they are not too tall.

 

[Daggar]

You've got a PM Rick

 

[StockLX]

Rick now that you mention it... one of the alignment dowels was sucked right up into the head, so there was none in the block at all. i reused them from my iron stock heads. I can get some close up pictures for you if you like? it is a n/a engine with aluminum heads. after it blew it heated up a couple times.