If a car needs a new head gasket, is that a clue as to other problems I might expect to find?

Question

Thanks for the tips, my cold feet!
Spdbmp... the only way know now is that I was told so by the go between. Someone is offering the car to me free. I'll be able to ask the owner. What would those different symptoms mean, if you don't mind?

Answer 1

yep.. something caused the head gasket to bad.. First question, how do you know you need a head gasket? Water in oil? water in exhaust.. Overheating problem, breach in cooling system?

Answer 2

You haven't mentioned what kind of car this is. All cars have little foibles to deal with. If this is a Japanese car and someone has put the "green" coolant in it, your cylinder head may look like Swiss cheese. Head gaskets don't usually fail without a good reason. Sometimes the radiator fan switch has failed, allowing the engine to overheat. This would cause gasket failure.. You should be absolutely sure what caused the problem in the first place. Sometimes just replacing the gasket is covering up the real issue.

Answer 3

have the head checked for cracks and warpage before reinstalling, if you have an iron block and aluminum head ALWAYS warm up car before taking off, aluminum expands faster than iron and leading cause of gasket failure is heating the engine too fast.