I have a 1999 Ford Expedition. It seems to be running fine, no change in any gauges, but two days ago smelled hot when I got home. I checked the coolant level, and it was very low, added 2 gallons. There doesent seem to be any leak anywhere. A friend saw a little bit of white stuff on the oil fill cap and said that meant a bad head. But he also said you should be able to see white smoke coming out of exhaust or smell antifreeze, which we could do neither. Is it possible that it was just low on coolant, nothing else?How can I tell if I have a bad head gasket?Check your oil for foamy, %26quot;coffee with cream%26quot; color, also when your car temp is up to normal operating temp, check the coolant for an oily film on top.
Keep up on the coolant, check it every day, because if it is a blown gasket, and you let it run hot, you will ruin the haeds, then you are talking major $.How can I tell if I have a bad head gasket?put a dollar bill up to the tail pipe. If it blows the dollar bill outward then it is fine if it sucks the dollar bill up to the pipe then you have a blown head gasket.How can I tell if I have a bad head gasket?if you are loosing coolant it has to be going somewhere!!!!!!
white round your filler cap could be just from condensation,,,,, is your oil level increasing or is your oil truning milky????
this could be from a blown head gasket or cracked head,,,,,
good luck,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,How can I tell if I have a bad head gasket?very possible low coolant only, if you dont see a coolant leak around the heads. however running on very low coolant can destroy the heads and or just gaskets if your lucky. the white stuff in the cap, is just moisture, and or condensation. mixed with the oil, it looks milky. when you pull the dipstick and see the same milky mix, this is bad. this means you have a mix of coolant and oil in the crankcase, and general with that you will hve head problems. white smoke is coolant burning, that can be a head or internal engine problem. but not to be confused with steam, that is normal with different temp changes and exhaust sytem warming up. as you notice on cold days.
