Possible Blown Head Gasket What Else Could Be Wrong?

noises inside motor = bad. Time to pick up an explorer motor and do an engine swaparoo

fiveohlover said:

I just bought a car from a guy 5 hours away. It drove fine and had tons of power when i tested it. Today i was showing my buddies the car and she blew. White smoke everywhere behind the car and the car just died. Herd some bad noises from inside the motor too. I am guessing its a blown head gasket what is the best and the worst thing that could happen to my motor beside just replacing the gasket?

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What did you do to the car since you've had it? Rev it to 6k? Do a burnout at every corner....... define "showing my buddies the car and she blew"

The odds that the motor decided to die the day after you bought it are about the same as winning the powerball while on a date with Kate Upton. More likely the prior ower sold it because he knew there was a problem.

You will need to first check for any leaking coolant from gaskets, hoses, and then for oil and coolant for signs of cross contamination and loss of fluid, pull the plugs for signs of danage and coolant. Then do a compression/leakdown test on all cylinders. Do not start the car again until you find out what is wrong.

Sounds like you need to grab the tool box this weekend to start taking it apart!

Only use a compression tester with a screw in adapter for the spark plug hole. The other type leaks too much to get an accurate reading. Your local auto parts store may have a compression tester to rent/loan. If you do mechanic work on your own car on a regular basis, it would be a good tool to add to your collection.

With the engine warmed up, remove all spark plugs and prop the throttle wide open with a plastic screwdriver handle between the throttle butterfly and the throttle housing. Crank the engine until it the gage reading stops increasing. On a cold engine, it will be hard to tell what's good & what's not. Some of the recent posts have numbers ranging from 140-170 PSI. If the compression is low, squirt some oil in the cylinder and do it again – if it comes up, the rings are worn. There should be no more than 10% difference between cylinders. Use a blow down leak test (puts compressed air inside cylinders) on cylinders that have more than 10% difference. See the link to my site for details on how to build your own blow down type compression tester.

I generally use a big screwdriver handle stuck in the TB between the butterfly and the TB to prop the throttle open. The plastic is soft enough that it won't damage anything and won't get sucked down the intake either.

A battery charger (not the trickle type) is a good thing to have if you haven't driven the car lately or if you have any doubts about the battery's health. Connect it up while you are cranking the engine and it will help keep the starter cranking at a consistent speed from the first cylinder tested to the last cylinder.