r/Cartalk • u/Alligatorgamer9 • Dec 09 '24

Blown Head Gasket, or Cold Weather? Exhaust

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

This is just after 2 bottles of K-Seal. The exhaust used to smell sweet, but now it’s almost odorless. It’s currently 2am and 39*F. The smoke also easily changes direction in the wind and alternates between rising quickly and staying low to the ground. The thickness of the cloud is also variable.

Is my head gasket screwed or is it just the cold weather?

0 Upvotes

37% Upvoted

View all comments

8

u/dudreddit Dec 09 '24

OP, why not stop the car, let the engine cool THEN check the condition of both the coolant and engine oil? If you have a mixing of these … you need a new HG.

2

u/sharkbomb Dec 09 '24

if it is a break between cyl and water jacket, you can tell by turning your heater on full blast and put your hand over a vent. if it is so hot that you want to pull your hand back, you have a very short time before catastrophe. learned that trick a couple dozen head gaskets ago..

1

u/Raalf Dec 09 '24

That's an interesting and functional way to check!