Can This Cause A Blown Head Gasket?

[Dylan Shrout]

I’ve got a 1995 Acura Integra with an engine that is about 1 1/2 to 2 years rebuilt. Ever since this Alabama summer has started, an overheating issue would show up only when i’m in drive thrus. It has not overheated in any other location. There was one instant where it began overheating, but I wouldn’t let the gauge get past 2/3. At this point, or just shy of, I put the parking brake one, put it in neutral and rev the engine and it cooled off immediately. Ever since this instant, it has been burning oil and coolant and it idles low on start up. I did a compression test and found that cylinder 1-3 are at 155-165 psi and the 4th at about 190. Would the sudden change in temperature blow the head gasket and not how hot the engine got or is 2/3 on the temp gauge high enough to blow it? I would be more than grateful for some help.

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[Richard Kirshy]

Odd that 3 cylinders are low.
Might suggest you do a leak down test on each cylinder to pin point where exactly the issue is.

[Mike]

If you’re suddenly going through oil and coolant, you have to consider a blown head gasket, a warped or cracked head, or a warped or cracked block. Like nightflyr said, a leakdown test would be the next step. Or, you could skip that and begin tearing things down to see what there is to see, since disassembling the engine would be the next step after a leakdown test anyway, assuming you want to repair the engine you have.

Your overheat episode may or may not have contributed to the issue. Personally, I wouldn’t get freaked out over a temp gauge reading 2/3 for a short time. A passenger car engine doesn’t continuously run on the bleeding razor’s edge between maximum performance and failure the way an F1 or NASCAR engine does. There’s quite a bit of safety cushion in them.

A “rebuilt” engine means different things to different people. It all depends on what was done and how well it was done. If the person who rebuilt the engine didn’t check the block and head surfaces for flatness, or didn’t use new head bolts, or didn’t torque the head down properly, your issue could be caused by sloppy work, and it happened now because of a combination of time and mileage. Having it happen after a minimal overheat condition could just be coincidence, or not. It’s impossible to say definitively.

[Author]

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