2002 Mercury Sable White smoke: Blown Gasket?

Tiny
ORIONSWATCHER
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 MERCURY SABLE
2002 Mercury Sable Automatic

We replaced the spark plugs and the gasket that goes around them about a month ago. ABout a week ago, the car started blowing out white smoke with a "sweet" odor to it, only on startup. After consulting with a mechanic friend, he said it was probably the head gasket or an intake. How does one tell if the head gasket is "blown", or a cylinder cracked? Is it something obvious to those that know absolutely nothing about a car engine to see? If it is indeed a blown gasket, how difficult is it to replace?
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 10:15 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
BLUELIGHTNIN6
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,542 POSTS
The only way to know for sure is to have a cylinder compression test done. If compression is low then the cylinder head will need removed and pressure checked to see if there are any cracks in it not visible by human eye.
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 AT 10:37 PM

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