How To Fix a Blown Head Gasket
Hey Austin, you have been a huge help to me in the past on car repair stuff and I wanted to run this idea by you. My mechanic is convinced I have a blown head gasket in my Jeep. He wants to pull the cylinder head off and replace the gasket, but for $1200 which I can not afford.
Have you had any experience with Blue Devil sealant? I am thinking about trying it to solve my head gasket leak but want your input first.
Gerry W.
Hey Gerry,
If your mechanic has done a cooling system pressure test FIRST and has ruled out any possible external coolant leaks like a water pump or radiator hose and is still convinced there is an internal head gasket leak…then yes, lets try a sealer.
To be honest I personally have NOT used Blue Devil, so I can’t comment on it working or not.
I did find a good Youtube video where people are having success using the product on their internal head gasket problem, so if you wanted to try it I don’t see why not.
What we have used in my shop personally for 30? years is K&W Engine Block Sealer, and it works great most of the time and is super easy to use if you use it MY way not as per the instructions on the can.
Now I should say that removing the cylinder head, resurfacing the head, doing a valve job while you have the head off and then replace the gasket IS the proper way to do the repair, just costly. But, I should also say, the mechanic is not going to make any money using a $20 sealer additive either so they will always recommend the “proper way”. 🙂
To make things easier for you, I made a video about head gasket leaks and how to use the sealer I mentioned. Take a quick watch and try it yourself.
Please share this with your friends,
Austin Davis
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My Ford 5.0L 302 has sticky lifter issues (clacking sound) due to the application of sodium silicate base to repair a blown gasket. Can this be resolved and by what means?
try a can of Marvel Mystery Oil Additive added to the engine oil crankcase.
Hi Austin,
I have an 05 Altima 2.5S w/ 160K miles. I diagnosed a blown head gasket about a year ago (white smoke out of tail pipe, coolant bubbled with cap off when starting and misfire on cylinder #3). I used the nanotechnology and it worked well for about 10 months. my problem is that I didn’t attempt to fix what was caused the head gasket to “blow”. So, i’m dealing with the same problem again.
I am planning to use the K&W nanotechnology again but also plan to replace the radiator. not sure what’s causing the problem, but figure i’ll start with that. I am wondering if I should use the nanotechnology first and then replace the radiator or replace the radiator first. does it matter?
Thanks for your help,
Tom
Tom, sorry for my delay had a family emergency that took me away for awhile. Replace the radiator and the thermostat first before using the sealer again. Keep me posted as to how things work out this time.
I have a 1994 ford 150 with a 300 fuel injection straight line six cl, I had moister coming out the tail pipe and bubbles in the rad and engine was missing bad. I put a bottle K&W sealer in and this stop the leak but I still have a bad miss in the engine. Could this be a Gasket blown between two cylinders losing compression and is there anything that could fix this without pulling the head?
Have you driven it 500 miles since the sealer was added? Driven 50 miles? There could be a fouled out spark plug due to the coolant leak, or there could be a bad spark plug wire that is not related to the leak. I would pull the spark plugs first and inspect them for white flaky residue that is caused by coolant exposure. I would also do a compression test on all cylinders while the plugs are out, probably need 110+ on all cylinders or close to it. Dont want 1 cylinder to be 75 and others 110+. If compression is good and even, maybe just need a tune up? Or maybe you do need to pull the head and do a valve job.