Possible blown head gasket

[bannditt]

I have rust around one of my head gasket and bolts is that a indication of a defective head gasket? Does anyone know how to post a picture on this website?

 

[Bill D.]

To post a picture select the little square block at the right hand end of the options bar above where you enter your text comments for a post. Just follow the instructions there.

 

[PascalG]

I have rust around one of my head gasket and bolts is that a indication of a defective head gasket? Does anyone know how to post a picture on this website?

Symptoms of Head gasket failure are usually water in the oil or steam out the exhaust.

 

[ddurand]

Rust on the outside of the head is probably not an indication of a head gasket failure. As others have said, water in the oil, failing a compression test are signs of a head gasket failure. If FWC then oil in cooling system also a sign of a head gasket failure.

 

[LouC]

Look at the spark plugs for signs of rust, water/coolant in a cyl is a sure sign, as is emulsified oil. On an engine with closed cooling you can test for carbon monoxide in the coolant, on a raw water cooled engine you can temporarily replace the manifold feed hoses with clear hose, then warm the engine up so the stat opens, run the boat in the water and see if you see bubbles in the water flow. If so that's a sign exhaust gas is getting into the cooling water via a blown HG. Had this on my old engine back in '16, wound up replacing both cyl heads, put it together with new gaskets and head bolts. Was able to save the original short block so it was a cheap repair relatively speaking.....

 

[LouC]

still running well 4 years later...old heads were cracked from a previous overheat and cooling passages were getting thin from 15+ years of raw water cooling in salt water. Ironically the HG issue & repair gave the engine a new lease on life!