RB Auto Service advises that when you blow your MINI Cooper’s head gasket you lose the seal above the combustion chamber. This seal is crucial. The combustion chamber needs to be sealed off from the rest of the engine to avoid fluid from leaking into it. It also needs the seal to help it build up compression inside the chamber to produce engine combustion. Once the seal is broken, the following occurs.
Leaking Coolant
One of the fluids that the head gasket keeps out of the combustion chamber is the engine coolant. When the head gasket blows, the coolant will flow into the combustion chamber where it will be burned away in each cylinder. We will talk more about this below. In the meantime, the leaking coolant is going to cause the engine to overheat because there is not enough coolant circulating through it.
Overheating Engine
In fact, your MINI Cooper’s engine will overheat whenever you try to drive the compact European automobile. Some people say that when your engine is overheating, you should turn up the heater. This can reduce the engine’s temperature temporarily, but in this case, the coolant will continue to flow into the combustion chamber until it is completely gone. We recommend that you avoid driving your MINI.
Scorching/Boiling
Even if you turn up the heater, the MINI’s engine can get so hot that you will start to hear boiling noises coming from the front of it. This is the sound of the coolant boiling in the radiator. As you can imagine, if you continue to drive your MINI, you will eventually blow the cap off of the radiator. This will cause scorching coolant to spray all over the engine. Pull over and cut the engine if you hear boiling.
White Exhaust
We mentioned above that we would talk about the coolant burning in the combustion chamber. When this happens, it releases exhaust smoke that is white and flows out of the tailpipe. As an aside, and for your information, blue exhaust means that the engine is burning motor oil. A fuel burn causes the black exhaust. You do not want to drive your MINI if it is releasing white exhaust.
White Motor Oil
Finally, the overheating engine is not the only thing that will happen when you blow your MINI Cooper’s head gasket. The coolant and motor oil are also going to mix. When this happens, the coolant terms the motor oil milky-white. This diluted motor oil can damage your MINI’s engine.
Call RB Auto Service in Pinellas Park, FL, today so we can replace your MINI Cooper’s head gasket.