Ok yall, I just read something that was a bit disturbing. Someone in here Staded that as a check for a blown head gasket to check for bubbling coolant at the radiator cap. I have been turning wrenches for years and have never heard this claim before and I can see the relevancy of this check but at the same time I can see where it could be B.S. as well. What's your opinion? Is this a reliable check for a suspected head gasket? I personally have seen a lot of bubbling radiator caps and have never even suspected any kind of head problem.

 

Okay after reading your post and having personal experience with a Honda that used to blow through head gaskets on a regular basis, this method can work. However the bubbling you get from a blown head gasket is different than what is considered normal bubbling on the oil cap. The color will also look different. For a more positive check you can also smell your exhaust fumes to double check the bubbles on the oil cap to confirm the blown head gasket.

 

they are VERY small bubbles

 

The sure gasket check way is a compression check. Go pick up a compression tester.

 

got one

 

Yeah, I got a compression tester and that is mainly how I've always checked too. When I read this i was led to believe this guy was checking by the RADIATOR cap, not the oil cap. just kinda threw me off for a min. Either way, I still need to run a compression check on mine soon. We had a lil episode the other day. I'm planning on doing a good bit of work next week when my intake and stuff comes in anyway so I'll run a compression chech between now and then and see wether I get the warm and fuzzy or hhave to consider pulling the heads and re-ringing it. She's got a lot of miles but Just runs too damn good to need much.

 

Yes checking for bubbles works well, have experienced many blown head gaskets on my Magnum so kwow first hand it works.

 

The air bubble in the over flow brings back when I had a 7M. The Toyota Supra was famous for blowing that on the inline 6, between #5 and #6. Kind of like a kid.....when you would blow air into the straw in your glass of milk.