head gasket

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Nov 28, 2005 | 11:24 AM

renchr56

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Mountain Pass

Joined: Nov 2005

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From: Baltimore,Md.

head gasket

I have a 2000 F-550 w/7.3. Coolant is blowing out of the coolant tank. How do you tell if a headgasket is blown?

Nov 28, 2005 | 04:25 PM

edub32

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Joined: Aug 2004

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From: Rural Central Ohio

What color is your exhaust? If your exhaust is white then most likely you have a blown headgasket because when coolant leaks into the combustion chamber it burns as white smoke (steam).

Nov 28, 2005 | 04:31 PM

edub32

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From: Rural Central Ohio

I also wouldn't recommend driving it without testing it. It could warp one of your heads. They make a combustion leak tester tool that you can test your coolant yourself. This chemical changes color when there are combustion gasses in the in the coolant. A local radiator shop could probably do it for you too.

Nov 29, 2005 | 05:08 AM

renchr56

Thread Starter

Mountain Pass

Joined: Nov 2005

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From: Baltimore,Md.

Exhaust smoke starts out white , then clears after a long time. Driver overheated the engine & now starts very hard. Takes awhile to get throttle response. The thing that gets me is that the exhaust smell is coming out the overflow bottle.