Head Gaskets

A gasket in an automobile is basically a metal part that is used to create seals between different engine components. The head gasket is the gasket that sits between the cylinder heads and the engine block, sealing the cylinders to maximize compression. The head gasket is also situated to prevent coolant or engine oil leakage into the engine.

This makes the head gasket the king of gaskets, so to speak; it is easily the most important gasket in a vehicle. As such, the head gasket is designed with extreme durability in mind. Despite this durability, as with everything, the gasket is not indestructible. Occasionally the head gasket may “blow,” which is to say that there might develop a leak in the head gasket that could cause the head gasket to essentially explode. This causes devastating damage to the engine and might make the engine nearly impossible to fix. It is important, therefore, to make sure that the head gasket is always in good condition. Make sure to ask your mechanic how the head gasket looks when you bring your car in for any service.

Besides a blown head gasket, other problems can occur, even if the gasket doesn’t blow. You have problems like compression loss (which makes the engine run very poorly) to exhaust gases getting into the engine compartment, which can cause overheating. Coolant can also get into the cylinders; if a lot of coolant gets in, hydrolock might happen, causing terrible engine damage.

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