VTToy

What is ( or is there) a good way to really tell if you have a bad head gasket in a 3.0 V6 ? no oil in water and no water in oil just smoke and ruff running is there really one thing to tell if its the head or not ? was asked this also the other day from a kid with a 22R motor , Thanks

dead_by_dawn

Usually when theres alot of water coming out of the tailpipe, or sometimes a putting noise from the engine that goes away once the engine warms up

rpl

quite a few ways. some could also mean a cracked block though.

- loss of coolant
- checking oil dispstick seems like its wayyy overfilled (with coolant most likely)
- milkshake like color of oil off of dipstick (hard to tell at times)
- drain oil and check.. this is a good indicator (milkshake)
- white smoke from tail pipe
- overheating engine

lots more though

GenXr

X2 what RPL said. Also check the side of the block for water leaks and also look around the intake manifold gasket for any coolant.

If you are chugging white smoke though, I'd bet on a blown head gasket. You'll probably have one or two steam cleaned piston heads!!

broncrider

pull the plugs out and pressure the cooling system see if you get a cylinder to fill up with water. thats the way i do it at the shop

VTToy

Have the smoke but kind of looks a little more blue tint to it but you still get a hint of antifreeze does run ruff and seems to lose a little antifreeze and can't find where it goes oil all looks good not milky and nothing in the radiator , when i got the truck the neck to the radiator was broken off and of course the guy had run it a little like that he had just added water to it i replaced that and took out the tstat ( dealer didn't have one in stock) it gets warm but doesn't boil over but still loses coolent replaced the plenum gasket everything under that looked good just had some oil/carbin build up also replaced the valve cover gaskets since they where leaking and everything looked clean no sign of water . the kid with the 22R smokes really bad but he doesn't lose any coolent but his oil is going someplace so its more then likely not a head gasket there.