Head Gasket

Head Gasket

If your looking for head gasket repair in Ann Arbor, I’m sorry. Head gasket repair is usually a pretty expensive repair. But on a good note (if that’s possible) it can be repaired. What does a head gasket do? Your engine has 2 major pieces, the cylinder block and the cylinder head. Between the cylinder head and the cylinder block is the “head gasket”. The head gasket’s job is to seal / isolate, the combustion gasses, Anti freeze and engine oil. Sounds simple doesn’t it? It’s not. It has to do this in some pretty extreme environments. When you start your engine cold in Ann Arbor MI. it can be any where from -35 to 100 degrees. At operating temperature the engine is between 195 to 220 degrees. Everything expands when it gets hot and contracts when it cools. To make matters worse the cylinder block is made out of cast iron and the cylinder head is aluminum, these 2 different metals expand and contract at different rates, so the head gasket also has to allow the block and head to slip a minute amount while still retaining a seal. Your anti freeze can and will cause your head gasket to fail if it’s not maintained properly. Your anti freeze/engine coolant not only keeps your engine cool it also protects the metals inside of your engine from corrosion. As the Ph level drops in your anti freeze it becomes acidic, anti freeze with a low Ph can literately “eat” away at the head gasket and metals inside of your engine. Once the corrosion process starts it’s really hard and sometimes impossible to stop. Follow the manufactures recommendations and have your coolant inspected annually. The biggest failure of head gaskets is from overheating your engine. The engine block is a very large heavy piece of iron which can handle excessive heat better than the much smaller aluminum cylinder head. The heads can get so hot if overheated that they will “warp”and when they cool back down they will not return to there normal shape. After this happens the gasket will not hold as tightly in spots as it needs to be and will fail allowing coolant, combustion gasses and oil to leak.

There is an easy way to prevent all this from happening. Let Ron’s Garage in Ann Arbor Repair and Maintain your vehicle. Ron’s Garage’s courtesy inspection is performed on your car virtually every time we service your vehicle. Our courtesy inspection is a 30 plus point electronic inspection that will detect worn out hoses, belts, radiators, brakes etc. Keeping your car in tip top shape and preventing any major catastrophes.