Possible blown head gasket?

Hello fellow tacomaworlders,

I am trying to figure out if I damaged my head gasket in a freak overheating incident. It overheated as I pulled into a gas station while towing a trailer. It happened way to fast to initially prevent. Literally everything was normal (around 200 on the scanguage) then my needle went strait to red line. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. I mean within 4 seconds. Now 250 on the scan gauge.
Since it was already fully overheating I tried revving it up to try to get more air through the radiator. This worked amazingly well actually and temps immediately started dropping. Turns out that the thermostat got stuck closed, or partially closed and the higher rpm pushed more water through my engine so, it had less to do with the fan.

After this whole ordeal and one thermostat later, I was keeping an eye on my coolant levels and noticed that there is always a constant stream of bubbled getting pushed out the reservoir that increases as you rev the engine up.

Is this normal???

I Never really payed attention to my coolant reservoir before while the truck was running. Also never looked at how much moisture was getting pushed out the exhaust, but now it looks significant. I may just be a little overly concerned.

My coolant levels do not really seem like they are going down and the coolant doesn't seem dirty yet, but time will tell. I am just really curious about these damn bubbles.

 

If the level remains full and there is no coolant smell don't worry about it.

 

Change your oil and send a sample in for a UOA. They'll be able to tell you if there is coolent in it.

 

Easy way to tell if you have a Head Gasket Issue is. Take the truck for a drive and get it up to normal running temp. When you get back to the house pop the hood and see if there if it is boiling in the overflow bottle. Also check and see if you have white crusty residue around the overflow bottle, that is antifreeze being boiled out while you are driving the truck. This is what my 2005 did when my head gasket was blown and if you do a search on GOOGLE it will tell you the same thing,

 

what is UOA ? i would like to perform this check on my truck

 

isn't another symptom also frothiness around the oil dipstick, indicating that coolant has penetrated into the oil ? what if i am getting boiling bubbles in the overflow tank but there is no whitish residue or frothiness on the oil dipstick ?

 

Used Oil Analysis

 

thanks. do you know if there are well known service providers that do this via mail or should i see a local shop ?

 

$23 WIX Filters - 24077 Oil Analysis Kit, Pack of 1

http://www.amazon.com/Wix-24077-Oil-Analysis-Kit/dp/B000CSEUQ0

Seen people do this one. Never tried it.

 

I use Blackstone Labs. Unlike other labs, they send the kit for free, and you pay for analysis when you send your oil sample in. Other labs charge you upfront for the kit.

 

Zombies!!!!! from 2014.

 

If you absolutely MUST have the piece of mind of having your oil analyzed, go for it. But in all the situations in which I had a failed head gasket on non-toyota engines, I had overheating issues, as well as an eventual milkshake appearance of the oil. My coolant levels were also slowly dropping. The issue with failed head gaskets is that oil and coolant paths are no longer separate, and since both are pressurized systems, on top of the pressure of combustion occurring inside the cylinder, the 3 separate systems are mingling in a very unnecessary manner. I would monitor your temps, check your coolant levels, and look for the oil to become milky. If you aren't seeing any changes in those 3 areas, you are probably okay.

 

How about rip into it and do a head job for fun. Only takes 20 hours. Not including sending the heads out for machining.

 

If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.

 

Also consider using a combustion leak detector kit (AKA block tester) to chemically test the fumes out of your radiator for an indication of blown head gaskets. i got the one from the last link and it worked well (tested negative) but the poor UX is that it requires a separate suction pump which needs to be adapted to its hose so i definitely recommend spending a few extra $$ and getting this one, which comes with a small pump.

I am not sure how that test compares with UOA.

Good luck