Blown Head Gasket Test (Suzuki 1.3L, 1.6L, 1.8L, 2.0L, 2.3L, 2.5L)

There are several ways to test for a blown head gasket and in this article I'm gonna' show three of the most common.

Two of these tests involve no tools what-so-ever and the third involves a compression tester (and thus a compression test) and the fourth a handy tool called a combustion leak tester (commonly known as a block tester).

Symptoms Of A Blown Head Gasket

There are several symptoms and if the head gasket is blown on your Suzuki vehicle, you'll definitely see at least one or two of them:

1. Overheating.
2. Oil mixed with coolant.
3. White smoke coming out of the tail-pipe.
4. Engine cranks, but does not start.
5. No compression on two side by side cylinders.

TEST 1: Engine Oil Mixed With Coolant

One of the most important functions, of the cylinder head gasket, is to keep three very specific components of the engine separate from one another and they are:

• Coolant.
• Engine oil.
• Compression/combustion pressures and gases.

When your vehicle overheats to the point that the aluminum cylinder head warps and/or the head gasket burns, these components will mix.

The most common end result of a blown head gasket is coolant mixing with the engine oil. To check for this, all you have to do is:

1. 1

   Open the hood of the car.

2. 2

   Pull out the engine oil dipstick.

3. 3

   Check the color of the oil sticking to the dipstick.

4. 4

   You'll see one of two things:
   
   1.) The color of the oil will be a milky white color (like coffee with too much cream).
   
   2.) The color of the oil will be its normal color.

Let's interpret your test result:

CASE 1: The engine oil was a milky white color. This tells you that the coolant is mixing with the oil and that you do have a blown head gasket on your hands.

CASE 2: The engine oil was its normal color. This doesn't confirm anything just yet. You'll need to go to the next test to make sure. Go to: TEST 2: Coolant Shooting Out Of Radiator.

TEST 2: Coolant Shooting Out Of Radiator

The second most common end-result of a blown head gasket is the compression/combustion pressures and gases escaping thru' the cooling system.

By cooling system I mean the radiator.

This is what you need to do:

1. 1

   Remove the radiator cap from the radiator.
   
   The engine should be completely cold before you open the radiator cap.
   
   CAUTION: Opening the radiator cap on a hot engine can spray hot coolant all over you and severely burn you.

2. 2

   Check the coolant level. ff the coolant level is low, top it off before proceeding.

3. 3

   When ready, have your helper crank the engine while you stand at a safe distance from the radiator.

4. 4

   You'll see one of two results:
   
   1.) The coolant shoots out forcefully when the engine was cranked.
   
   2.) The coolant was not disturbed at all.

Let's interpret your test result:

CASE 1: The coolant shot out of the radiator. This confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that you do have a blown head gasket on your hands.

CASE 2: The coolant DID NOT shoot out of the radiator. So far so good.

In TEST 1, you confirmed that coolant isn't mixing with the engine oil. In this test, you have confirmed that the exhaust gases are not escaping thru' the radiator.

If the engine does not start, your next step is to go to: TEST 3: Engine Compression Test.

If the engine starts, but overheats within minutes, your next step is to go to: TEST 4: Using A Chemical Block Tester (Combustion Leak Tester).