3 Ways To Properly Test Head Gasket
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- For years we did things the same way, but we are in the day and age where new equipment is changing the way we test. In this video you will see some of that equipment and why it can help you with the smaller head gasket leaks that may not fail with the old school methods. The Professor will also give some good tips towards the end to make sure people are covered when letting their client know about the issue. We hope this helps! Enjoy!
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Fellow shop owner here 35 years, gotta tell ya I really enjoy your channel - keep up the good work!
I had coolant dripping behind my Northstar engine. I borrowed a pressure tester for the cooling system, and I could hear a hiss behind the engine, at the height of the head gasket. I put dye in the coolant to look for the leak, but saw nothing on the engine. I got one of those blue liquid testers, and after I pumped it a lot the blue took on a yellow tinge. I took the car to my mechanic after I saw what it takes to deal with a Northstar head gasket, and told him I was sure it was the head gasket. He called later that day and said it was just my coolant reservoir leaking. The reason the blue liquid was turning yellow was that I was sucking some of the dyed coolant into the tube. What a blessing to have an honest, capable mechanic for the jobs I can't do myself. I bought him and his whole shop lunch.
even if he was a dishonest mechanic he'd probably not wanna do a northstar headgasket anyway
@@neverending774 True that! I just watched the video of it and almost threw all my tools away!
Zip tie a rubber glove to the neck of the tank and see if it balloons up when the engine is running. Have a God bless week. I appreciate your videos.
same deal with an egr cooler bud nothing like a faulse possative to f u up
@@figol6272
Don't forget the Pentastar oil cooler 👍🏻
Ohhh I like that 5 gas analyzer method! That’s sweet!
It’s always a GM motor, typical for here in the UK. One of the reasons we avoid Vauxhall Astra, Zafira and Corsa
Schroeders box had a vehicle with a small leak . He did not have a gas analysier . He used cylinder leak down on the suspect cylinder and found bubbles in over flow tank . That gas analysis is awesome
Thats the way i have done for decades.but my new favorite now is differential pressure transducer and a scope,will pinpoint exact cylinder and can do on load and idle
25 year tech I would love to work with you and your level of expertise. I soak up knowledge from you guys. Thanks for doing the videos.
Always appreciate your no nonsense, cut, and dried, evaluations and solutions! I am an old-school mechanic starting out in 1974 sometimes it was very easy to detect and gasket failure but sometimes the small ones were very difficult to find... thank you
What is that thing that can't be spoken of ? 7:56
Scope with a pulse sensor can be used as well. I have even triggered off one of the coils and you can figure out which bank is the bad gasket. Still replace both, but nice to know so you can inspect the gasket when you’re performing the repair
A cylinder leak down test would be another way.
I always thought it was strange that the analyzer probe could sit in the muffler pipe and absorb moisture into them from the exhaust but unable to handle any amount of coolant into them. Great vid thanks!
GREAT INFORMATION ..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pulse sensor testing is another way as well
Nice video for sure.
Thank you, as always, for your clear explanations and showing the way a high-end shop would do things. I also want to say, the camera operator does a consistently good job.
One question that doesn't actually matter but... is the liquid (in the 3rd option) reacting to CO2 or hydrocarbons or something else? I noticed it says "CO2 Leak detector" -- but obviously it will react according to the liquid inside, not what the plastic instrument has written on it.
Thanks again, Professor!
Thank you!!!!
My son's car was over heating. The first shop change the thermostat. The second shop, said everything was wrong and had a huge list adding up to over $3,600. It was a head gasket and I use the blue liquid tester. Some cars are just prone to head gasket failure after a given amount of miles, due to their design.
Thinking the HC readings ate jumping around because of firing order. When the cylinder(s) near the head gasket leaking are coming up on compression it's pushing the HC's & they they get lower until that cylinder comes around again.
With a Powerstroke 6.0, it's best to test it under load driving. You put a gauge on the cooling system.
Yup. Piles of 💩 too. They ran poor under warranty. Almost 20 yrs later, still 💩
exselente dianostic master en mi olmilde opinon tabien te pudes aser la tester cylinder lean down tester
Dear Sir, it is as well very important to make a cooling system pressure test, as well as check the radiator for clogging by uplifting it from car and block the bottom hase outlet, fill it with tap water and check for adequate flow. Also some cars like some Mitsubishis can have a frayed water pump impellar and some other brands can have a plastic water pump impellar that would be eroded. Sometimes people will unknowingly use tap water that could potentially lead to such overheat in extreme summer conditions. You know sometimes in your case where the engine is smooth with no mix of oil/coolant and no apparent bubbling in the coolant when you open the radiator cap, and due to economic situation, the car could live for so many years provided that the client check his oil and coolant daily. This did happens (at my end of the world) ) on a variety of Japanese and American brands, but you should even in your case remedy the root cause of overheating before relplacing the headgasket. Also sometimes a leakdown tester can prove which cylinder is bubbling to the radiator cap so as to imform the machine shop accordingly. Also, a boroscope could show a tiny green bubble into the cylinder provided that the owner uses a coolant. Take Care. John
Whoo!! First One 😂
How do you know if it’s a bad head gasket vs a possible failure in the head itself
The cheapest way to preliminarily test is to pop the radiator cap on a cold engine. If air pops out at you then you know you either have a bad head gasket or potentially a cracked EGR cooler... I think gas analyzing is kinda outdated at least for new cars. EGR coolers internally leak and will introduce combustion gas into the cooling system. The best method that is cheaper then your first two tools would contend for a borescope, followed by a cylinder leak down test.
Surprised you didn’t use scope and pulse sensors/relative compression.
This would certainly lead you in the right direction but you’d have to do further testing to make sure your data isn’t caused by rings/valve seats. The tests shown here 100% points to a headgasket.
@@rotarynerdpulse sensor connected to coolant tank.
@@matthewbrice737 i apologize. I misinterpreted. that would definitely work
Hi I would like to buy a scanner diagnostics for personal use that can erase errors and very good one. What you advise for me please thanks
Had a Toyota High lander. Always had a coolant odor after driving. Never could find a leak. And needed coolant added after a thousand miles or so. The thought of head gasket never entered my mind. One day the failure was catastrophic and non- repairable. So, if you smell coolant and can’t find a leak… you’re losing it thru the exhaust. That’s where I think I was getting the odor from. There was never a residue under the oil cap, or evidence of crankcase contamination.
All 3 test are valid but their is a but what if the vehicle has an egr cooler that is blown those test will show positive for a blown head but its not its that
On a diesel with an egr cooler failure you could get stung with all 3 of these methods
Pressure testing the cooling system over a few hours or overnight will usually tell the tale if it's a head gasket issue. Usually...
I've had customers, shop owners, and other techs claim it couldn't be a head gasket because in their view no coolant is getting into cylinder or oil and no smoke. This is not true and I learned this in the mid 80s when GM made that terrible diesel engine. Diesels have higher compression but this car showed me that you can have a head gasket leak and no coolant in cylinder was ever detected. Think about it, you have 14-22 psi inside the cooling system, but you have much higher pressure inside the cylinder. So with a very small combustion leak, which way do you think it's gone go? Likely towards the cooling system.
The old GM diesel car had a head gasket leak and two cracked heads!
Another stupid mistake is not knowing how to check the fan clutch. Obviously after the engine heats up and you switch the engine off if the fan freewheels then fan clutch isn't working. Also, if you rev the engine the fan will blow your hat off if you are leaning over the fender. Don't be fooled by the air coming out from around the fan shroud, even a bad fan clutch will do this.
Every once in a while you may get a car using coolant and you can't find the leak and the tech will assume it's the head gasket. Never do that, there's always a way to prove what's wrong. Could be the heater core, fan clutch, or radiator or the heater control valve is just not leaking at this time that you pressure tested it.
Don't forget to check for a restricted radiator or air flow blockage between the condenser and radiator. If the radiator is restricted usually closer to the bottom, a temp gun may help but there may not be much difference in your reading. But a difference non the less is measured. 210 and 218 between the top and bottom of radiator is a difference which could be a restricted radiator.
If you have an engine that is building up pressure quickly, this is a sign that you may have a head or head gasket sealing issue. But make sure you have eliminated all other possible causes first. Is the heater getting as hot as it should? If not then the water pump may not be pumping or you have air in the system which can come from combustion and a bad head gasket.
Dang it, I feel bad for her, someone sold a car with a blown head gasket.