Blown Head Gasket?

[sirmj]

Hi all,

A few days ago, I was driving and saw steam coming out of the bonnet I immediately drove home reached even before the temp gauge reached the red area.

I saw the top radiator hose had come off. Allowed it to cool and put it back in. Filled distilled water in the coolant tank. Idled the car for 5-10 mins and I see water dripping from somewhere close to the radiator.
I leave the car take it next day to a mechanic and he says my radiator is leaking. So I had that changed.

Now I am worried that I might have a blown head gasket -- saw a little white smoke at startup today.
How much of white smoke indicates a blown head gasket? Will simply checking coolant level in a month definitely tell me if I have a blown head gasket or not?

What are the other symptoms/checks that I should be doing to identify if I definitely do have a blown head gasket.

The things that I found on google were ---

1. take a sample of my coolant to a chemist shop check if there are hydrocarbons present.
2. when changing engine oil check if it is frothy

And finally if there is some one in Atlanta area who has some free time during their weekend and doesnt mind teaching me how to do some routine checks on my 328IS pls PM me. thnx.

Deepak

[xsperf]

blown head gasket = funny smelling smoke or blue smoke.. i dont think ur headgasket is bad

[323ic]

sorry to tell u my friend. its not lookin too good. my cars in the shop for it right now. the white smoke at startup could definetly be antifreeze dripping into the cylinders while the car is turned off(very not good) see when liquid is on the pistons when you start it it tries to compress it through that little opening in the valve very very not good. could possibly bend the valve or do damage to the head. well what i would do is immediately change oil and check it out. frothy is bad because antifreeze will eat your bearings like cheezecake. also try and get a sample of antifreeze in a clear container if there are black streaks in it that is oil. i would have this checked out immediately! the gasket change may be very expensive but its alot cheaper than a new head and bearings and the many other things that could go wrong. just out of curiosity what model is it? mines a 96 328i m52. but i do hope its just a lil steam at start up.

[triggrhaapi]

My money is on it being steam at start up and a heavy dose of paranoia. Go check your oil, if it comes out looking chunky or has a funny consistency or you actually see coolant in the oil, definitely check out your head gasket. Otherwise you shouldn't worry yourself too much. If you are really worried about it, take the car in for an inspection.

[B3M2W5i]

imo if you have a blown head gasket you probobly wouldnt have enough compression to even run the car

[Ivan413]

7 years old also


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[witeshark]

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