A head gasket is an important component of your car as it restricts the engine liquids from causing any kind of damage to the cylinders inside. This small piece of equipment can be found between cylinder head and engine block in your internal combustion engine. By resting at the right place, the gasket prevents leakage of engine oil or coolant into cylinders. Apart from this sealing effect, the gasket also keeps pressure within cylinders so that the gas is effectively combusted with compression. It is an essential combustion chamber component and its strength should be ensured at all times.
Unlike other exterior components, the internal parts of your car can’t be inspected on your own regularly. If you experience problems like cooling system failure or overheating of your engine, then it is time to take a closer look at your head gasket because this humble component can really result in serious problems. Due to wear in the gasket, coolant liquid can reach the cylinder and reduce the performance of cooling system. Water and oil can get mixed up and this will certainly create trouble with your vehicle. A broken gasket can result in decreased pressure and it can easily cause overheating in your car.
A blown head gasket is often a problem that car owners face most of the time and replacing this component is not cheap. Mild cases of failure of the gasket in the interior part of your car are hard to recognize. Often times, you will ignore the small signs and continue driving. As a result, continuous stress on the component will cause it to break down eventually, leading to major problems. When you take your car to a car mechanic with issues that popup all of a sudden, he will most likely inspect the head gasket first to find out whether there are any issues.
It is impossible to predict problems with the head gasket, but if you are careful enough to notice the minor signs that your car gives you, you can deploy preventive maintenance strategies to reduce the effect. Many car owners prefer to use coolant system conditioners that need to be applied only once in a couple of years. This will keep your gaskets in good condition, but sometimes, a bad conditioner can pose a new threat. Typically, you can choose conditioners that are suited best for the type of gasket used in your car.
Taking care of your engine will automatically ensure safety of the head gaskets. The oil temperature should be at least 60 Celsius before you try to ramp up to 3000 rpm. You can drive your vehicle at a low speed before halting in a parking lot suddenly. If you notice steam or smoke from boot lid vents, pay attention to it immediately to prevent disasters that may arrive at a later point of time. Frequent and professional checking of compression pressure using a pressure gauge will notify you about the status of your gasket. A leak down test is done by professionals to ensure that your gasket is not leaking any engine liquid.
