thaeleelyr

Has anyone ever had a head gasket leak that resulted in no other symptoms but lost fluid?

This isn't with my Lexus but with a friend's Ford. It runs great, but is loosing coolant ever so slightly. They can't seem to spot the leak, but when the coolant starts to get low (a little over a quart) there is a sloshing sound from behind the dash on the passenger side. When the coolant is topped off, the sound goes away. No over heating, no white smoke, oil looks perfect.

They took it to a mechanic who is supposed to have pressure checked it with no loss in pressure, so the diagnosis was "head gasket leak". They also bespoke of the horrors of pulling a spark plug to check for said engine leak and advised a new head gasket, spark plugs and wires (but not coils), so I wasn't allowed to do that for fear the world would end.

It almost sounds like they are about to be taken to the bank by the mechanic. I suspect the water leak is somewhere not obvious from above. But it got me thinking about my preconceived notions of what happens when a head gasket starts to leak and I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on what symptoms imply a head gasket leak.

fastnoypi

i had that issue on my subaru when the headgasket went in its early stages. If the coolant loss has been recognized early, he might be lucky with the cause being a bad radiator cap or other leaks in hoses or around clamps if a pressure test is performed with UV dye.
If not, a small head gasket leak will get bigger over time and show floaters in the coolant when oil crosses over. Then the expensive repair will have to be decided on. Excessive ash may also start to form on the plug tips and more steam than usual will be in the exhaust.

salimshah

I am going to leave this here for a day or two and then move it to Car Chat.

Salim

thaeleelyr

Thanks fastnoypi, that's good to know. OK Salim, thanks for leaving it up for a bit.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

My brother used to have an Acura Legend that was notorious for blown head gaskets. We did a pressure test and it showed nothing abnormal but he still had symptoms of a BHG. We tried the combustion leak detector and it showed hydrocarbon was present in the coolant. We tore down the engine and indeed the head gasket was bad.

fastnoypi

This is also a great method to confirm if you have a HG leak or not. Some Autozone's, NAPA, will rent the block tester but you may have to pay a small amount for the test fluid.