How To Test For A Blown Head Gasket (1990-2001 2.2L Toyota Camry, Celica)

You can find out if you have a blown head gasket, on your 2.2L Toyota, yourself before you commit the car to a repair shop.

I'll show you the 4 tests that are done to find out in a step-by-step way.

You can find this tutorial in Spanish here: How To Test For A Blown Head Gasket (2.2L Toyota) (at: autotecnico-online.com).

APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:

• 2.2L Toyota Camry: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001.
• 2.2L Toyota Celica: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999.
• 2.2L Toyota MR2: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995.

These other tutorials may come in handy:

• Common Causes Of Engine Overheating (1992-2001 2.2L Toyota Camry).
• How To Test The Thermostat (1992-2001 2.2L Toyota Camry).
• How To Test The Radiator Fan Motor (1992-2001 2.2L Toyota Camry).
• How To Test The Radiator Fan Switch (1992-2001 2.2L Toyota Camry).

Symptoms Of A Blown Head Gasket

There are several symptoms, that you'll see when the head gasket gets blown on your 2.2L Toyota. These are:

1. Overheating.
2. Oil mixed with coolant.
3. White smoke coming out of the tail-pipe.
4. Engine cranks, but does not start.
5. No compression on two adjacent cylinders.
6. Coolant being pushed forcibly into the coolant reservoir bottle whenever the engine idles or the engine is turned off.

TEST 1: Engine Oil Mixed With Coolant

The very first thing I would do, when a vehicle with a blown head gasket complaint came into my bay, was to check the condition of the engine oil.

I specifically wanted to see if the engine oil was mixed with coolant since this is the most common end result of a blown head gasket.

In my personal experience, about 90% of the vehicles diagnosed with a bonafide blown head gasket had this ‘engine oil mixed with coolant’ condition.

It's the one that we're gonna' check first:

1. 1

   Open the hood of your Toyota.

2. 2

   Pull out the engine oil dipstick.

3. 3

   Check the color of the oil sticking to the dipstick.

4. 4

   You'll see one of two things:
   
   1.) The color of the oil will be a milky white color (like coffee with too much cream).
   
   2.) The color of the oil will be its normal color.

Let's take a look at what your test results mean:

CASE 1: The engine oil was a milky white color. This tells you that the coolant is mixing with the engine oil as a result of a blown head gasket.

CASE 2: The engine oil was its normal color. So far so good. You're not out of the woods yet, your next step is to see if the head gasket is leaking cylinder compression pressure into the cooling system.

For this test go to: TEST 2: Coolant Shooting Out of Radiator.