Do "blown headgaskets" sometimes "just happen"?

Question

Well, my car is currently in the shop getting checked out for what could possibly be a blown head gasket, and if it is, this would be my second straight car in a row to die via a blown head gasket. I am no car expert, but I do know enough to always keep fluid levels topped off, and get routine maitenence when I am supposed to. I also never ignore indicator lights or other warnings. My first car this happened to had 130,000 miles on it (1994 Ford Escort) and the current car is a Saturn 1996 SL1 with about 100,100 miles on it. I have talked to other people who have had this similar death curse happen where your car is seemingly running perfectly fine one day, and then out of nowhere it just overheats and a headgasket blows......is there some type of specific maintence to make sure to do to avoid this kind of thing or do blown headgaskets sometimes "just happen" ?

Answer 1

UNFORTUNATELY, YES

Answer 2

Sometimes they can just happen, particularly on engines that have an aluminum cylinder head on an iron engine block (or vice versa, although that's pretty rare) and rack up a lot of miles. In When a blown head gasket just happens, it usually starts as a tiny tear that just gets bigger and bigger until the thing blows.

There's three other causes. One is preignition or pinging, which can sometimes happen if you let the iginition or fuel injection get out of maintenance, or if you run a car meant for premium gas on regular. The other is overheating, which you may be able to ward off by regular coolant changes and replacing the radiator if it rusts enough to become brittle. The third cause is abuse by would-be hot rodders, which can easily cause either of the previous two head gasket killers.

Answer 3

There's reason behind this theory of yours! First off, most people don't pay any attention to the guages so they only realize an overheating problem when steam is flowing from all points of the vehicle! Just a little too late! And then to top it off, they try and drive it home or wherever! That's a NO-NO! These engines have aluminum heads and they won't stand up to that abuse.
Secondly, I see people all the time at the car wash with the hood open spraying ice cold water on a hot engine! OUCH! What do you think happens when someone performs that intelligent task?
And last but not least, most people today are in such a hurry, financed to their eyeballs so cash is a huge problem, and so lazy they just don't give any concern to a term we in the business call
"preventative maintenance"!
So there you have it in the egg shell! You get out what you put in!

Answer 4

A blown head gasket is not uncommon, and unfortunately, both the cars you refer to have a notoriously weak reputation here.
Yes they can "just happen", but there is always a cause, ant it isn't necessarily due to lack of maintenance or ignorance on your part.
Recommendation -- Repair as necessary, then as soon as financially possible, replace with a new car, with a factory warranty, and purchase the extended warranty as well. They you can plan the money necessary to get around.

Good Luck

Answer 5

I had this happen on a 94 Chevy Camaro. It overheated and the headgaskets blew. I was at 140k miles.

Sometimes that just happens. It's a product of cars getting old.

Answer 6

Yes, Head gaskets can go anytime. Sounds like your coolant was low and/or your head bolts needed to be re-torqued.
Also, there is a copper based sealer (sold at Advance Auto & other parts stores) That can seal head gasket leaks. I have used it on a 427 Vette & It worked great and its under $10.00!!!

Answer 7

Some car makes/models are just prone to it, but in both cases your vehicles do have a lot of mileage on them. Vehicles can sure be a pain sometimes!

Answer 8

it's not like a blown head gasket is the end of the car.

it should only cost you a few hundred to fix.

Answer 9

If this happen a third time, call your priest.
Or get newer cars. After they go over 100k miles, often stuff happens.