Blown head gasket

LILK

MEMBER
1999 CADILLAC ELDORADO
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC

My flywheel broke 3 teeth. So I had mechanic to pick it up. I got a call yesterday saying I had a blown head. I have had the car for about a month and just changed the oil and there where No signs at first. But when my flywheel broke and my son went to take of the starter we noticed that the where a little milky substance on one of the intakes, my son wants to try the sealant mad just for northstar engine. I'm willing to try anything being this is my only need of transportation and I don't have the money for a new engine. But the mechanic told me my flywheel is going to continue to brake and probley want crank within the next week that he puts in on without fixing the blown head s because the pistons are filling with water. How does that work is my flywheel just gonna brake so easily?

2 Replies

SQM

MECHANIC
6,383 POSTS

Hello,

Anytime you have coolant in oil, it is a good idea to do a blown head gasket test. This test checks for combustion gases in the coolant.

Here is a guide of how to do that test:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Also when you have a blown head gasket, you will get white smoke out of the tail pipe, due to having coolant in the oil.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/white-smoke-or-steam-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

The effectiveness of those chemical sealer is always up for the debate. As the success rate can depend on the size of the leak and the materials the gasket is build out of.

As for the broken tooth on the flywheel. It is likely you could have more of them break. However what is more likely is that when you shut the engine off in any random time the starter can be lined up with the part of the flywheel that is missing the teeth. This will prevent the car from starting as the starter will be unable to turn the flywheel to start the engine.

I have attached diagrams for your reference.

Please let me know of any questions.
Thank you.

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