has my head gasket gone ?

There are a few simple indicators you can check for with the engine cold and not running.

1. contaminated oil, it will have a milky appearance from the water mixing in the oil. 2. oil on the top of the coolant inside the radiator (if your vehicle has a remote header tank you may not get this) 3. have someone crank (remove the coil lead or disable the elcectronic ignition) the engine on the starter with the radiator cap or coolant jacket bleed hose/bolt removed, if the coolant pulses up and down or blows bubbles you could be in trouble.

If you find any of these symptoms move on to removing the spark plugs (lable the plugs and the leads as you remove them so you can put them back in the same place as you got them from) and again crank the engine on the starter, depending on how bad your head or gasket is gone you may get coolant or oil coming out of the plug holes. inspeection of the plugs will also reveal problems during combustion, if you have rusty flaky deposits on the plugs you may be burning off water and if you have a heavy carbon your burning oil.

depending on the severity of the leak (and how hard you want to look for it)

if you have any of the first 3 items listed (water in oil, oil in water or pulsing coolant but dont get any result from checking the plugs change the oil and water as appropriate then warm up the engine without the radiator cap on (or the bleeder hose/bolt) and watch for bubbles as the engine warms up. Put tha cap back on the cooling system and take the vehicle for a short drive or run the engine till the entire system is up to temperature and then check the oil for contamination.

Having these symtoms is not always indicitaive of a blown head gasket and usually if the gastket is gone there is going to be some warping of the head and or block of the engine.

There are a few other things that can give similar symptoms to the ones listed above 1. internal damage to water/oil galleries 2. damage to oil/water intercoolers if fitted 3. weakened hoses on the cooling system can cause pulsations in the coolant 4. leaking valve seals may drop oil into the chamebers 5. poorly bleed cooling systems or systems where there are high loops in the coolant jacket may have some bubbling.

a bad problem with vectras

is

the engine breathers gets blocked and the THIN rubber gasket between the top rocker cover (top cam tray) and the top of the cylinder head blows and oil will fall into where the spark plugs and can burn off with the heat of the engine

will find this out when you put the spark plug socket in as will be covered in oil

if so get a OEM one not a aftermarket one a

clear the engine breathers

head gaskets can go between

oil and water jacket

oil will go creamy in color

oil and combustion chamber

car will puff smoke out the back missfire

water and combustion chamber

backpressure throught the expansion bottle rubber hoses will pressurise

It sounds like it. there's an prolonged record of indications and those are between the super ones. it may additionally be in basic terms rust in the water, and espresso point of antifreeze in the blend. Did the keep you asked to a cylinder compression try? it quite is the place they disconnect the ignition, and cylinder by way of cylinder eliminate the spark plug, and fix a compression gauge. the perfect quantity will variety from make to make, yet what you would be wanting to look for is the version between readings in the cylinders. a significant distinction from one to the different distinctly lots seals the question. in basic terms make confident a superb keep does the try. A beginner, or cheating mechanic could report a valve practice subject if/whilst it quite is in basic terms the pinnacle gasket. yet another quickie try you're able to do your self is to run the engine, and placed your renounce the exhaust pipe. (make confident it is not warm first!) in many situations, head gasket hassle can ensue as vaccume THEN helpful rigidity in the exhaust. there ought to in basic terms be helpful rigidity. A sucking effect sucks, reason it means super hassle inclusive of your rig.

my boyfriend says it sounds like an oil leak and its burning, otherwise you'd be guzzling water. get it to a garage tho. check under the oil cap for any white gunge, that indicates head gasket has gone. also when the engine is running unscrew the water cap and check for any bubbles or smoke coming out. steam is ok.

If you're blowing white smoke it's gone, hard to tell sometimes in cold weather.

Just stick your finger in the oil (let it cool down) and give it a little taste. If it's sweet than you have coolant in your oil meaning your head gasket is gone.

you might have a tappet gasket leak, or another gasket nearby...

get some degreaser, give the whole engine a real going over, wait 10 minutes, rinse well...... then isolate the actually oil leak

the smoke is just from oil burning, from where its coming out of that particualr spot and hitting hot surfaces

the head gasket will cause your engine to loose compression or power... unless you have really gave it to the motor and pretty much boiled it, you should be right

Only one even close to answer.

You have a valve cover leaking oil onto the exhaust manifiod. small job but should be fixed.

how many miles has it done? they usually go bout 100,000. take the oil cap off n if it got a slimy white residue on it it usually gone. also if ya heating doesnt get warm that can also be as sign. my boyfriends went on our cavalier.... aint a cheap job, hope it aint gone!

have you tell tale white gung in the oil? indicating water in it? And white smoke?

Sorry but it sounds very much like a head gasket failure