What are the symptom for a blown head gasket on a '92 Saturn SL2?

Question

My transmission guy did some kind of test today that said that the engine and transmission are fine, and that it drives like a Saturn with 100K miles on it. (We don't know the exact amount, but I think it's well over that, maybe 125K.) However, he noticed that it was driving very warm, and that something else may be going on with it, and to therefore have the cooling system checked out by my regular mechanic. The tranny guy said that it may be some kind of borderline condition, and that's why his test may not have picked it up. However, he said nothing about the head gasket! The regular mechanic suggested that it may be a blown head gasket. The car does drive, and the MAP sensor was just replaced. The only other symptom is that I can feel something a little bit off on the performance, especially when going up hill-- just the slightest hesitation, and slightly rough idling when stopped. Could my regular mechanic be right?

Answer 1

A constant loss of coolant.engine oil appearing as a chocolate milkshake.white smoke from the exhaust .and /or a sickly sweet smell.Which is the antifreeze mixing with fuel in the combustion chamber.What it could be more that likely is just needing some coolant added and possibly a tuneup.Sometimes after a hot summer cars can loose coolant .

Answer 2

sometimes there will be coolant mixed with the motor oil, when you pull the dipstick it would be milky. you will have white smoke blowing out of the tailpipe and it will have a sweet smell to it like antifreeze. It will lose power. The worse the gasket is blown the worse the symptoms will be , Did you overheat the engine lately? If so that may have blown a head gasket or warped a head causing the gasket to blow. good luck

Answer 3

these car are known for cooling temp sensors to go bad and cause the vehicle to run hot.need to pull off connectors and look for green corrosion. very cheap to fix.
may have a water pump not working right.
you may have a head gasket problem depends on how bad you will have some of the problems mentioned.
did anyone even try to test for a head gasket problem?

Answer 4

Your mechanic could be right,have him look at it.A pressure test of the cooling system may locate a problem.Your car has a lot of miles on it so it won't have the performance it used to have due to wear.If you are not loosing any coolant then I don't think it's a head gasket.You may be worried over nothing.

Answer 5

you notice if you car is smoking? if not i don't think it blow the head gasket and also check you oil if milky color mix to the oil that is the symptom for blow head gasket. what i think is you lose the power because as you know when your car get older more than 10 year those problem will exited because your piston ring got worn oil started leaking and you lose engine compression also you valve seal might be crack also caused oil leak. take it back to the shop for them to do compression test and check timing belt or needs major tune up.

Answer 6

check ur radiator water for traces osf oil!! ie rainbow slick or milky residue under ur oil filler cap if u have either of these things u have ablown head gasket if u break down and splutter only shortly after starting the car its the head! go to ultra tune they have computerized assesment on performanc and diagnostic print out 4 around 100 bucks, sounds like timing problem to me check timing belt or chain gear.

Answer 7

White smoke coming out the exhuast.

Answer 8

blown head gasket gives a lot of "white" smoke out the tailpipe. You don't see that, that's not it.

Answer 9

for any car, it's white smoke exhaust & water & oil mix coming out of the exhaust tail pipe.

Answer 10

you will have white smoke coming out of exhaust , and yes your mech is right