The car, 1993 240 wagon 304k. It is leaking oil from the front somewhere but the engine has never overheated and the oil on the dipstick looks fine.There is oil in the coolant(I think) I put some stop leak crap in there a while ago which turned the coolant from Mountain Dew green to gray.The coolant is oily though.
If I stomp on the gas I do get some white smoke from the tailpipe but none at idle.The runs and idles great.
I don't want to pull the head until I am sure it is indeed the head gasket.
Should I have my local tech do a coolant pressure test ? Leak down test ? Cylinder compression test ?
I just bought $300 in parts from FCP Groton for the head gasket/timing belt/water pump and seal job.I also bought new drive belts,hoses,timing covers,spark plugs and thermostat, gaskets etc...
PS I think some of my exhaust manifold bolts are going to come out with the studs attached.
You guys rock,Philvo

My front oil leaks are cam seal or most commonly oil pressure sender.

When I have white smoke in exhaust it is the head gasket. And I usually get the light brown oil from hot coolant mixing n under pressure.

Do a compression test - quick & easy.

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240s: 2 drivers and some parts cars

There are different kinds of head gasket leakage, and you need to try and distinguish them before jumping to conclusions.

1) Coolant leaking out of the side of the block past the gasket. Not necessarily a problem - leak stop may stop it.

2) Coolant leaking into a cylinder. Difficult starting, poor running until the accumulated water is expelled, white smoke, suspiciously clean plugs and combustion chamber.

3) Combustion gases leaking into the coolant. Bubbles in expansion bottle, smell of exhaust in water, loss of water through bubbling, overheating.

4) Oil leaking out of the block. Unlikely, I believe. There is no pressurised oilway close to the edge of the block, and the drainage passeges are not under pressure.

5) Oil leaking into the coolant. Not possible, I believe, as above.

6) Water leaking into the oil. Very possible. Lots of oil drainage passageways, lots of water passageways. Blobby oil, emulsified.


Check firstly:
Cam seal leakage
Cam cover gasket leaking
Excessive crankcase pressure eg from blocked flame trap or air ventilation hoses.
Oil seaping out of filler cap and running down and then spreading around the line of the gasket edge.

Take the Coolant Reservoir Cap off and watch the coolant? Does it percolate? does it smell like exhaust? Those are signs of a bad head gasket.

I just did the head gasket on my son's turbo car. The coolant smelled like exhaust. Oil ran down both sides of the block from the head gasket. With the new head gasket, there is no more oil leaking from that area, and it doesn't use coolant.
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john

You might pop the top off the coolant expansion tank and watch for bubbles while the engine is warm and running... sometimes a blown gasket is a leakage path from the cylinder to the coolant passages.
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In God We Trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.

You might pop the top off the coolant expansion tank and watch for bubbles while the engine is warm and running... sometimes a blown gasket is a leakage path fromthe cylinder to the coolant passages.
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In God We Trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.

May be a silly question but did you see if the oil leaking from the front might just be a Cam seal leak?

The hard accel smoke might just be a bit of Blowby with the mileage you have. You did say you are not losing coolant.

As mentioned below, See if your Plugs are sparkly clean. That would indicate coolant getting into the cylinders.

Car runs great, signs of something other than head gasket.








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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm

Phil
Oily coolant and white exhaust are two good signs of a bad head gasket. If you want any more proof a compression test should do it. Oil will also stick to the overflow tank, what does it look like? Dan

Hey Dan,
The reservoir looks like grayish oily coolant.I haven't lost any coolant, only oil.The oil filler cap isn't milky either.I am just wanting to make sure before I get in over my head, Or in this case under it....

Phil,

Is it an automatic? If so you might want to make sure the transmission cooler isn't leaking into the radiator. How does the trans fluid look? You could easily pressure test the trans cooler if you think it is suspect.

I think a coolant pressure tester would be a good idea. A compression or leak down test may tell you something, but not all head gasket failures are into the cylinder, so a compression test could be normal even with a failed gasket.

Charley

I lost a head gasket on a Dodge Caravan and it put out a nice cloud of white smoke from trying to run on coolant. Take a look at the spark plugs to see if one or two are much cleaner than the others. Dan