Blown Head Gasket? On What Cylinder Though.
video description
And also Element owners will not give up their cars. They will keep driving them forever. My father had one, I was going to get it when he passed but his second wife wouldn't give it to me because it wasn't in a will. She wanted to sell it, and demanded 16, 000 for car worth half that. Yes they are loved by their owners, but they arent collectors items either.
Nothing beat them for the huge boxy cargo area. Remove the seats, the back opens wide, with the way the doors were on the sides, it was wide open too. They were just amazing for being able to load bulky stuff inside them in a smaller vehicle that is low cost to maintain - it is after all just an Accord engine with AWD.
Date: 2022-08-30
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Comments and reviews: 13
NDZ12345
Struggling with a similar scenario on a friends 1994 MR2, cooling system is becoming over-pressurized and blasting out the overflow. Unfortunately we've ended up in the situation you mentioned where we've already replaced the headgasket but didn't find any obvious issue with it. We're confident we did it correctly but it did not fix the problem. The head was checked by a machine shop and found to be within spec for flatness and also was pressure tested by them as well. At this point we're kind of out of ideas other than possibly some kind of crack in the block allowing combustion pressure into the cooling system. Would this test or any other test you can think of allow us to get any further on this?
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Struggling with a similar scenario on a friends 1994 MR2, cooling system is becoming over-pressurized and blasting out the overflow. Unfortunately we've ended up in the situation you mentioned where we've already replaced the headgasket but didn't find any obvious issue with it. We're confident we did it correctly but it did not fix the problem. The head was checked by a machine shop and found to be within spec for flatness and also was pressure tested by them as well. At this point we're kind of out of ideas other than possibly some kind of crack in the block allowing combustion pressure into the cooling system. Would this test or any other test you can think of allow us to get any further on this?
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Daivd
So I did drivability and electrical troubleshooting at a Chevy dealership back in the early 90 s and ended up changing careers by the 2000 s. Good choice for me as it s panned out very well. But, seeing the diagnostic tools you guys have available nowadays almost makes me want to get back into it. When I was at the dealership, the scanners available could only give you trouble codes and you could view basic sensor readings. I love watching you guys do proper diagnostic work. I bet like I was, you guys are still waiting on the computer that tells you what s wrong with the car that customers always thought we had
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So I did drivability and electrical troubleshooting at a Chevy dealership back in the early 90 s and ended up changing careers by the 2000 s. Good choice for me as it s panned out very well. But, seeing the diagnostic tools you guys have available nowadays almost makes me want to get back into it. When I was at the dealership, the scanners available could only give you trouble codes and you could view basic sensor readings. I love watching you guys do proper diagnostic work. I bet like I was, you guys are still waiting on the computer that tells you what s wrong with the car that customers always thought we had
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Gregory
I suspect it's leaking #3 to #4 and then #4 to the coolant. With #4 plug installed the pressure we saw was from only #4 with some leaking to the open #3, hence lower & slower pressure build up. With #3 installed the pressure leaked to the open #4 but not to the coolant, so there was no indication. With both installed we saw the cumulative pressure from BOTH cylinders, hence higher & faster pressure build up. Two leaks but different types. I've been out of the testing/monitoring equipment industry for about a decade so I'm amazed at the level of test equipment available today. Great video as always!
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I suspect it's leaking #3 to #4 and then #4 to the coolant. With #4 plug installed the pressure we saw was from only #4 with some leaking to the open #3, hence lower & slower pressure build up. With #3 installed the pressure leaked to the open #4 but not to the coolant, so there was no indication. With both installed we saw the cumulative pressure from BOTH cylinders, hence higher & faster pressure build up. Two leaks but different types. I've been out of the testing/monitoring equipment industry for about a decade so I'm amazed at the level of test equipment available today. Great video as always!
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2Truth4Liberty
I diagnosed a bad head gasket on my Briggs powered riding lawn mower and
I narrowed it down to cylinder #1 since there is only one cylinder in that engine: -0)
( It was pressurizing the internal engine space and blowing oil out the fill tube and breather tube )
PS
I have a 1986 Goldwing that uses about 3 oz coolant for every 100 miles. Nothing in the oil so,
weighing the cost of repair, I have resorted to frequent maintenance of the coolant level. (It will begin getting hot when I lose around a pint)
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I diagnosed a bad head gasket on my Briggs powered riding lawn mower and
I narrowed it down to cylinder #1 since there is only one cylinder in that engine: -0)
( It was pressurizing the internal engine space and blowing oil out the fill tube and breather tube )
PS
I have a 1986 Goldwing that uses about 3 oz coolant for every 100 miles. Nothing in the oil so,
weighing the cost of repair, I have resorted to frequent maintenance of the coolant level. (It will begin getting hot when I lose around a pint)
reply
Rick
I really enjoy see you use diagnostic tools I will never own, I'm a self taught mechanic, using books and making mistakes. Because I'm 75, lots of things are different, really different, than when I was growing up in the 60s. What is the same, smart people never stop learning.
Now, because the Honda plugs were so easy to access, wouldn't a simple compression test have shown you, us, the problem?
Again I really enjoy your work. And, your work attitude.
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I really enjoy see you use diagnostic tools I will never own, I'm a self taught mechanic, using books and making mistakes. Because I'm 75, lots of things are different, really different, than when I was growing up in the 60s. What is the same, smart people never stop learning.
Now, because the Honda plugs were so easy to access, wouldn't a simple compression test have shown you, us, the problem?
Again I really enjoy your work. And, your work attitude.
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James
Why is knowing what cylinder it is necessary with a blown head gasket? Isn't the repair going to be the same? Regardless of which cylinder the leak is actually occurring near? This damage will require either a repair of or full replacement of the head usually? Right? I ask because I have gone through this situation when I owned a Chevy Vega which had an aluminum block. Just wondering I any thing was missed back then with that repair.
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Why is knowing what cylinder it is necessary with a blown head gasket? Isn't the repair going to be the same? Regardless of which cylinder the leak is actually occurring near? This damage will require either a repair of or full replacement of the head usually? Right? I ask because I have gone through this situation when I owned a Chevy Vega which had an aluminum block. Just wondering I any thing was missed back then with that repair.
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Electrak
At the end you should have put in #1 & #2 plugs (only, just to show they don't contribute in any way. We never DIDN'T see a pressure build with a plug installed. Oh, and starting it with all four plugs installed AND the injectors operational would have been an interesting pressure-build plot to see how high the pressure got. probably to the relief pressure of the cap, assuming the diagnostic-cap has a pressure relief?
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At the end you should have put in #1 & #2 plugs (only, just to show they don't contribute in any way. We never DIDN'T see a pressure build with a plug installed. Oh, and starting it with all four plugs installed AND the injectors operational would have been an interesting pressure-build plot to see how high the pressure got. probably to the relief pressure of the cap, assuming the diagnostic-cap has a pressure relief?
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Raymond
Top notch diagnosis, Now you can reseal the to the Cylinders to the head and run it another 200, 000 Miles perhaps, Catching head leaks early like this saves on the rest if the Vehicle trans and engine if it wasn't ever overheated, I don't like when some folks think it's ok to run them until it turns into a steam engine, Everything else gets potentially trashed then, Including the head warping out of spec, Nice save.
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Top notch diagnosis, Now you can reseal the to the Cylinders to the head and run it another 200, 000 Miles perhaps, Catching head leaks early like this saves on the rest if the Vehicle trans and engine if it wasn't ever overheated, I don't like when some folks think it's ok to run them until it turns into a steam engine, Everything else gets potentially trashed then, Including the head warping out of spec, Nice save.
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Zippy
i don't like that you got lazy and didn't drain the pressure on the last cyl. yeah i mean did you open the cap and look for air bubbles in the coolant too? thats a pretty good indicator that doesn't require a sensor. or you can do a paper litmus test and see if the coolant is showing its contaminated. or do a leakdown test on the cylinders while you also look for bubbles in the radiator. lots of ways to diagnose it
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i don't like that you got lazy and didn't drain the pressure on the last cyl. yeah i mean did you open the cap and look for air bubbles in the coolant too? thats a pretty good indicator that doesn't require a sensor. or you can do a paper litmus test and see if the coolant is showing its contaminated. or do a leakdown test on the cylinders while you also look for bubbles in the radiator. lots of ways to diagnose it
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Lrrr
Maybe it s only just started and that s why the customer has no other drivability issues, and the customer seems to be aware and take care of his vehicle as in he didn t just continue to drive it until it had no coolant left and cooked it
Nice video as always with plenty of information, probably would be one of the harder ones to see the damage to the head gasket when it seems to have been caught early.
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Maybe it s only just started and that s why the customer has no other drivability issues, and the customer seems to be aware and take care of his vehicle as in he didn t just continue to drive it until it had no coolant left and cooked it
Nice video as always with plenty of information, probably would be one of the harder ones to see the damage to the head gasket when it seems to have been caught early.
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calholli
This method is known as deductive logic. It's interesting to see that the wave form was actually exactly the same-- just at a different amplitude, once you pulled one of the bad plugs. So that makes me think that both cylinders must be leaking through the same hole. but even then it's strange that you don't see a double impulse-- rather than just building pressure faster. That's pretty odd.
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This method is known as deductive logic. It's interesting to see that the wave form was actually exactly the same-- just at a different amplitude, once you pulled one of the bad plugs. So that makes me think that both cylinders must be leaking through the same hole. but even then it's strange that you don't see a double impulse-- rather than just building pressure faster. That's pretty odd.
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baldo
if the coolant is going into a cylinder the piston will probably be very clean and sweet smelling exhaust. don't need a fancy gadget to find it. if its a V anything i will just do BOTH, thats just me. i found honda engines with oil leaking out of a head gasket. recheck torque WTHeck? loose. was an old car, oil leak stopped with heavier oil SAE20W and retorque. just luck
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if the coolant is going into a cylinder the piston will probably be very clean and sweet smelling exhaust. don't need a fancy gadget to find it. if its a V anything i will just do BOTH, thats just me. i found honda engines with oil leaking out of a head gasket. recheck torque WTHeck? loose. was an old car, oil leak stopped with heavier oil SAE20W and retorque. just luck
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Scott
And this right here is why I watch ya brotha! ,this was absolutely badass to see! 30 years as a tech, and this is the first time I've ever seen the PICO used for internal head gasket diagnostics! Great video man! I was actually unaware that the PICO could be used in this aspect! Thanks so much for teachin an old dog a new trick! Keep doin what ya do brother!
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And this right here is why I watch ya brotha! ,this was absolutely badass to see! 30 years as a tech, and this is the first time I've ever seen the PICO used for internal head gasket diagnostics! Great video man! I was actually unaware that the PICO could be used in this aspect! Thanks so much for teachin an old dog a new trick! Keep doin what ya do brother!
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