think my head gasket may be blown... any definite signs than anyone knows of that will let me know it is definitely blown?

 

Compression will be way down on the affected cylinders.

 

thanks.. anything else? not sure if i want to get the gasket fixed..or just swap the engine .. its got about 166k on it

 

you will get the normal white smoke out the tail pipe, you can also take the radiator cap off and then start it and let it get to operating temp so the thermostat opens and look in the radiator and you will see it blowing bubbles thru the radiator... if you drive it to long with a blown head gasket you most likely will plug up the cat also, like Kyle said compression test will tell you more, like which side the head gasket is blown on

 

Yeah, you should notice a ton of white smoke. I would say your best option would probably be replace the engine one of my friends had her head gaskets blow and for a shop to do it they told her it would be at least $1,500.

 

alright thanks guys

 

ever since yesterday my truck has been running completely awful out of nowhere...it violently shakes when idling, and has almost no power when accelerating. Its really really loud and shakes while i accelerate too..there is also a really strong, nauseating smell of gas and oil.. a couple days ago a mechanic told me the head gasket is blown..could the head gasket really make it run this horrible?

 

A head gasket can make a car run rough. You can check a few things to see if it is indeed a head gasket problem. First look in you radiator and see if there is oil in there floating around. Then check your oil and see if it looks like Bailey's cream.

If you don't have these symptoms it's a good sign but still not out of the question. You may need to put the coolant system under a pressure test and see if you find any leaks.

 

Test compression with a gauge in the spark plug holes. If you dont get 100 pounds of pressure at least, its toast. 120 is what you want ideally. If you get low compression on a cylinder then the gasket might be blown. You can also take off the rad cap and run the engine, if bubbles start coming up in the coolant then you for sure blew the gasket.

 

Might also check if a spark plug got loose or fell out altogether.