Chances that you are here readings this means you need to know more about head gasket failures and it is also likely someone told you your car needs a top overhaul or your head gasket has failed. Before going on further the first thing we need to know what is a head gasket and what does it do.
The definition per Wikipedia is as below.
A head gasket is a gasket that sits between the engine block and cylinder head in an internal combustion engine. Its purpose is to seal the cylinders to ensure maximum compression and avoid leakage of coolant or engine oil into the cylinders; as such, it is the most critical sealing application in any engine, and, as part of the combustion chamber, it shares the same strength requirements as other combustion chamber components
To summarize - head gasket ensure separation of engine oil, coolant and combustion chamber. Also you need to note that the end product of the combustion chamber are exhaust gases.
With this you should rough have an idea by now, what happens when the head gasket fail. Right, the possibilities of coolant, engine oil and gases mixing. We can come to the following scenario when the head gasket fails.
1. Coolant + Engine Oil
2. Coolant + Combustion Gases
3. Engine Oil + Combustion Gases
4. Coolant + Engine Oil + Combustion Gases
Of the 4 scenario only those with combination of 1 or 2 are detectable in the system with visual inspection. Your friendly neighbourhood mechanic will usually suspect a head gasket failure based on the signs provided by these 2 failures.
1. Bubbles in radiator spare tank
2. Engine oil cap has water vapour
3. Engine oil is discoloured (think: black coffee + evaporated milk)
4. Radiator spare tank water level drops regularly and require top up
i really got shocked. by ur blof it seems nissan cars sucks. nissan engine yucks. it seems proton behave better in engine like proton wira 1.5gli
ReplyDeleteu spend thoussand son nissan. by right nissan should be stable engine for 200,000km
You have to understand that the X I own currently is a used unit. The issues encountered here are a result of cumulative damage and improper maintenance by the previous owner. Also not to mention the used car dealer that sold me the car tampered with the odometer.
ReplyDeleteGiven the years of abuse that the X has gone through it should be given credit that it continues to function.
A well maintained car irregardless of what make will perform its tasks and endure minimal issues.
The post is quite interesting. I really had no idea about how to detect head gasket failure. But now i know, after reading your post. One more thing I want to know that how bad is the effect of the gasket failure on the car?
ReplyDeleteSells Gasket material
Thank you for stopping by. I just compiled this based on the information that i've gathered while working on the problem.
DeleteNot sure how to describe how bad but the car was still running and the mech warned me to fix it ASAP to prevent a catastrophic failure. He said the whole engine could fail and lock up.
One thing for sure is that engine oil level is still normal.