Is this the Head Gasket?

[90' LX 5.0]

So i just bought another mustang... 1991 5.0 hatchback AOD...

In the upper RPM range it pings and sputters a little... my mom said that it blew a puff of white smoke out the exhaust when i got on it... the guy i bought it from said that he put cheap gas in it so that it just needed to be tuned up and run with better gas... so the only thing that worries me is the puff of white smoke...

Does it sound like the head gasket?

 

[Repostyle]

I'm not a professional mechanic or anything and please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, blue smoke is too much gas, black is oil, and white is water, so it does sound like a blown gasket, check your oil for a kind of milky foamy look, if it is, it's mixing with water and is most likely the gasket.

 

[jstang209]

run some good radiator sealant through it and see if it helps any.

 

[Daggar]

So i just bought another mustang... 1991 5.0 hatchback AOD...

In the upper RPM range it pings and sputters a little... my mom said that it blew a puff of white smoke out the exhaust when i got on it... the guy i bought it from said that he put cheap gas in it so that it just needed to be tuned up and run with better gas... so the only thing that worries me is the puff of white smoke...

Does it sound like the head gasket?

How long was the car sitting before you bought and drove it?

 

[1991_5.0_vert]

If it's pinging in the upper RPMs you may need to retard your timing, especially if he's run crappy gas. Before you do that though run some premium through it and see if it helps with the pinging.

 

[Daggar]

If it IS crappy gas, don't add new gas to it! Put some gas dryer in the tank and run it down quite a bit before putting new gas in it.

 

[TheUser]

I'm not a professional mechanic or anything and please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, blue smoke is too much gas, black is oil, and white is water, so it does sound like a blown gasket, check your oil for a kind of milky foamy look, if it is, it's mixing with water and is most likely the gasket.

blue means burning oil; black means too much gas (running rich), and white is water

 

[Shadrack]

 

[Carney Woods]

How long was the car sitting before you bought and drove it?

If it's been sitting awhile you will get some smoke out of it. Every year when the car comes out of storage there is some smoke for a few miles.

 

[kornchild4life]

If your head gasket was shot there wouldn't have been just a puff of white smoke coming out. I'm in the middle of changing a set of head gaskets in my dad's van and when that thing was started up all that was coming out was white smoke and it was a huge cloud But like what was stated get dry gas and redo your timing and see if the pinging goes away

 

[red92gtstang]

Sounds like a headgasket to me. Or maybe the valve seals.

 

[bc86fiveoh]

Every headgasket that I've dealt with, the vehicle steadily puffed white smoke, not just a "puff".

 

[mondos90lx]