So, before you start, take a look at the whole article and familiarize yourself with the test steps of all three. If this is the case, you can skip head gasket TEST 3. There's a very good chance that if the head gasket is really blown on your 2.4L Quad 4 engine, you may only have to perform the first two tests. Well, in this first test, you're gonna' verify symptom number one. When a head gasket gets blown, due to overheating, it will usually present three very distinct results which are: 1.) engine oil mixed with coolant, 2.) exhaust gases, engine compression escaping thru' the cooling system (radiator), and/or 3.) Loss of compression on two adjacent cylinders. HEAD GASKET TEST 1: Engine Oil Mixed With Coolant
The engine oil is thick and tan to off-white color (mixed with coolant).You have also verified that this ‘no-start condition’ is not due to a lack of fuel (by doing a fuel pressure test). You have already verified it's not an ignition system problem because you have spark coming out at all of the spark plug boots. White smoke is coming out of the tail-pipe and it smells like anti-freeze being cooked.Your 2.4L Grand Am (Cavalier, Malibu, Achieva, Alero, etc.) is overheating.The most common symptoms a blown head gasket are: 3) Thermostat went bad and is stuck closed and the coolant could not circulate. For example: 1) The radiator fan is not working, 2) All of the coolant leaked out of the engine and you kept driving it this way. This engine overheating can be caused by one of several factors. HEAD GASKET TEST 4: Using A Chemical Block Tester (Combustion Leak Tester).Ī blown head gasket is always the result of severe engine overheating.HEAD GASKET TEST 3: Testing Engine Compression.HEAD GASKET TEST 2: Coolant Shooting Out Of The Radiator.HEAD GASKET TEST 1: Engine Oil Mixed With Coolant.