Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting do I have a blown head gasket?

My 1997 Zetec with 110.000 miles has been running consistently hot (right at L in normal).
I've changed the thermostat, the radiator fan seems to kick on ok and the coolant has been changed.

I noticed yesterday that a some of the coolant was gone, it was down to the MIN mark, I had filled it up right to the MAX mark.

Someone mentioned I could have a blown head gasket. Are there any other tell-tale signs of that I can look for?

Thomas

You need to figure out where the missing coolant is going to. Is it leaking on to the ground-could be water pump going out-usually can spot leak at seal adjacent to the belt or the water pump's sealing gasket. The coolant could be coming out the exhaust pipe, which is good indicator it is blown head gasket. Warm car up and see if there is significant amount of white smoke coming out the pipe. The coolant could also be going into the oil pan, possibly due to blown timing gasket. Check oil level with dipstick, see if level has risen.
Chris

Thanks for the reply Chris!

Funny thing is it's not leaking all the time, it has been running for weeks without leaking any coolant and now all of the sudden it lost some yesterday.

It is consistently running hot though, is that a sign that a head gasket has gone?

Thomas

Engines with blown head gaskets do many times overheat, but overheating doesn't always mean a blown head gasket. Other symptoms are oil in the coolant, coolant in the oil, lots of white exhaust smoke, rough idle, poor performance, bad compression in 2 or more adjacent cylinders, etc. A good radiator flush and a lower temp Tstat may take care of your problems if it looks like the head gasket is OK.

Originally posted by tthomas:

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Thanks for the reply Chris!

Funny thing is it's not leaking all the time, it has been running for weeks without leaking any coolant and now all of the sudden it lost some yesterday.

It is consistently running hot though, is that a sign that a head gasket has gone?

Thomas

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If this occurred w/o overheating the engine (running in the red), or being exposed to sub-zero temps (a partially cracked head gasket can go all together with one good freeze...) AND there is no coolent in the oil, then I would think you have a small leak in your radiator/cooling system. Running hot w/o overheating all together is usually a symptom of a pin-hole type leak or old radiator cap. You're loosing pressure somewhere...

Regards, Art