2000 Pontiac Firebird head gasket

CHRISTIDHARRIS

MEMBER
2000 PONTIAC FIREBIRD
3.8L
V6
RWD
MANUAL
170,000 MILES

We were pulling the car out from being stuck and while he was getting it out after we stopped the car was stemming and sprayed coolant all over the place we noticed that the leak was above the belt and coolest hose and under the top of the motor my husband can just feel that it is a head gasket and he needs to know how do we test it to make sure that is what it is and what tools will he need and how step by step instructions on how to do it

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,727 POSTS

Please put some punctuation in that huge sentence, otherwise it can be read multiple ways.

I did figure out you want to know how to test for a leaking cylinder head gasket. There's a fast chemical test for that. It involves drawing air from the radiator, while the engine is running, through a glass cylinder with two chambers partially-filled with a special dark blue liquid. If combustion gases are present, the liquid will turn bright yellow. You might be able to borrow this tool from an auto parts store where they rent or borrow tools but they usually make you buy your own bottle of fluid. That's because it can be rendered ineffective from freezing or by being contaminated with antifreeze. They don't want to risk borrowing it to someone with fluid that was contaminated by the last person who used it.

Be aware that a leaking head gasket rarely causes coolant to be sprayed on the engine. Coolant under the hood is almost always caused by a simple leak in a hose, or on some GM engines, a leaking intake manifold gasket.