Funnel buddy head gasket test
05-29-2017
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Funnel buddy head gasket test
Im selling my 04 civic and a guy just looked at my car. He put a funnel in the radiator and revved the engine and said there was a bad head gasket. Is this a legit test?
05-29-2017
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Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
It's not necessarily definitive. It could be simply an air bubble in the coolant system (minor leak somewhere, perhaps).
Get a compression test or a leakdown test done.
Get a compression test or a leakdown test done.
05-29-2017
#4
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
The guy found it. So what?
Did you price the car accordingly?
But that begs the question:
Why is this guy carrying around this fairly specialized funnel in the first place? Does he do this to every car he wants to buy?
Does he know these cars well enough to check on this problem before doing anything else?
I bet he offers $200 to do you a favor and take this major headache off your hands so nobody else has to suffer.
05-30-2017
#5
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
I did a similar test on a car before I bought it. .....and I didnt buy that bubbly car either!
Last edited by alexp; 05-30-2017 at 03:02 PM.
05-30-2017
#6
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Back in December you posted about no heat and I said the engine probably needed a head gasket. I assume you never fixed it, so it is still bad?
The guy found it. So what?
Did you price the car accordingly?
But that begs the question:
Why is this guy carrying around this fairly specialized funnel in the first place? Does he do this to every car he wants to buy?
Does he know these cars well enough to check on this problem before doing anything else?
I bet he offers $200 to do you a favor and take this major headache off your hands so nobody else has to suffer.
The guy found it. So what?
Did you price the car accordingly?
But that begs the question:
Why is this guy carrying around this fairly specialized funnel in the first place? Does he do this to every car he wants to buy?
Does he know these cars well enough to check on this problem before doing anything else?
I bet he offers $200 to do you a favor and take this major headache off your hands so nobody else has to suffer.
He says he's been a Honda tech at a local dealer for 6 years and knows the mileage of my car is about when head gaskets usually go on this year range car so he wanted to do that check before buying the car.
Maybe I should sell it to him for $400.00 less than asking eh?
I remembered you saying the air in the heat core could be a leak in the system somewhere, or a head gasket issue. To me this funnel test seemed like it would not pinpoint specifically a head gasket, but that air was getting in the cooling system *somewhere*
The "So what?" Is I'm trying to decide if it's a legit test and I should replace the headgasket. If I don't sell the car, I don't want it to blow on me and cause problems. If I do sell the car I don't want it to be a surprise for whoever gets the vehicle.
Last edited by Elciteeve; 05-30-2017 at 01:01 PM.
05-30-2017
#7
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
To me this funnel test seemed like it would not pinpoint specifically a head gasket, but that air was getting in the cooling system *somewhere*
The leaking head gasket is the only possible source of "'air' leakage into" the cooling system of a running engine.
I guessed it needed the head gasket job done 6 months ago, apparently it still needs it done now.
Look it as a free confirmation of the free internet diagnosis you got 6 months ago.
Now you can decide what to do with/about it.
Also, if you have a shop fix it it should cost a lot more than 400.
05-30-2017
#8
OF top 99.5% creator (Formerly of the Puffinblunts variety)
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
IMO..this is not a definitive test for headgasket breach. All engines will cause bubbling in the radiator when revved...it's the size of the bubbles and duration that is important. Tiny bubbles are expected an normal. Continious dime size bubbles would be very suspicious and concerning.
05-30-2017
#9
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Advice I very much appreciate. Thank you everyone for the input.
FWIW The guy ran the test with the engine cold, filled about 3 or 4 cups of water in the funnel with a gasket that fit into the radiator cap. Revved the engine and there were no bubbles for the first many revs (probably 5 or 10) but there was significant pressure pushing water up the funnel, maybe a kiwi size fountain was made in the funnel. After 10 or so quick short bursts of a high rev (followed by about a 20 second pause each rev) there were a few small bubbles and the water level dropped slightly, maybe 1/8 a cup or so.
FWIW The guy ran the test with the engine cold, filled about 3 or 4 cups of water in the funnel with a gasket that fit into the radiator cap. Revved the engine and there were no bubbles for the first many revs (probably 5 or 10) but there was significant pressure pushing water up the funnel, maybe a kiwi size fountain was made in the funnel. After 10 or so quick short bursts of a high rev (followed by about a 20 second pause each rev) there were a few small bubbles and the water level dropped slightly, maybe 1/8 a cup or so.
05-30-2017
#10
05-30-2017
#11
OF top 99.5% creator (Formerly of the Puffinblunts variety)
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
Advice I very much appreciate. Thank you everyone for the input.
FWIW The guy ran the test with the engine cold, filled about 3 or 4 cups of water in the funnel with a gasket that fit into the radiator cap. Revved the engine and there were no bubbles for the first many revs (probably 5 or 10) but there was significant pressure pushing water up the funnel, maybe a kiwi size fountain was made in the funnel. After 10 or so quick short bursts of a high rev (followed by about a 20 second pause each rev) there were a few small bubbles and the water level dropped slightly, maybe 1/8 a cup or so.
FWIW The guy ran the test with the engine cold, filled about 3 or 4 cups of water in the funnel with a gasket that fit into the radiator cap. Revved the engine and there were no bubbles for the first many revs (probably 5 or 10) but there was significant pressure pushing water up the funnel, maybe a kiwi size fountain was made in the funnel. After 10 or so quick short bursts of a high rev (followed by about a 20 second pause each rev) there were a few small bubbles and the water level dropped slightly, maybe 1/8 a cup or so.
05-30-2017
#12
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
Back in December you posted about no heat and I said the engine probably needed a head gasket. I assume you never fixed it, so it is still bad?
The guy found it. So what?
Did you price the car accordingly?
But that begs the question:
Why is this guy carrying around this fairly specialized funnel in the first place? Does he do this to every car he wants to buy?
Does he know these cars well enough to check on this problem before doing anything else?
I bet he offers $200 to do you a favor and take this major headache off your hands so nobody else has to suffer.
The guy found it. So what?
Did you price the car accordingly?
But that begs the question:
Why is this guy carrying around this fairly specialized funnel in the first place? Does he do this to every car he wants to buy?
Does he know these cars well enough to check on this problem before doing anything else?
I bet he offers $200 to do you a favor and take this major headache off your hands so nobody else has to suffer.
05-30-2017
#13
OF top 99.5% creator (Formerly of the Puffinblunts variety)
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
If, I'm the OP I would at least do a $10 block test on it and if a guy that wants to buy my car claiming it has a headgasket breach he better prove it through a leakdown or straight shop air (ezone style) instead of bubbles in the radiator.
OP if you're losing coolant in the radiator and gaining coolant in the reservoir on a daily or weekly basis that's another strong sign of a headgasket breach. I am not saying bubbles in the radiator (depending on size and duration) isn't a sign of a breached headgasket..it's just needs to be backed up conclusively with other tests/signs.
OP if you're losing coolant in the radiator and gaining coolant in the reservoir on a daily or weekly basis that's another strong sign of a headgasket breach. I am not saying bubbles in the radiator (depending on size and duration) isn't a sign of a breached headgasket..it's just needs to be backed up conclusively with other tests/signs.
05-30-2017
#14
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
If any of you guys have watched the video I made of proving the head gasket leak that's posted in the overheating sticky thread, the method the OP witnessed is not much different from what I do in the video.
If I'm filling a cooling system and witness the endless stream of bubbles, that leads me to do the other test while the engine is shut off.
The main difference in the process is I'm using shop air pressure on a non-running engine, the OPs looker was using the engines actual combustion pressure as the engine runs. It works ok as long as the leakage rate isn't super slow.
The results of the test boil down to the same thing, a leaking head gasket. His method only lets him know it's a head gasket.....my method narrows leakage down to specific cylinders which in turn can clue me in as to whether or not the head might be warped......but in the end the fix is no different, a head gasket job.
If you're wondering why the level in the funnel rises roughly a half quart before it starts letting 'air' burp out, you need to look at the height of the radiator cap in relation to the height of the liquid inside the cylinder head and understand that a lot of liquid has to be displaced before the 'air' bubble can work its way from the head to the radiator.
After it has done this a couple times, the liquid level stabilizes somewhat and the endless stream of bubbles becomes obvious without the liquid level dropping.
If it was burping a trapped air pocket (without a head gasket breach), the liquid level would drop as air is worked out of the system (replacement instead of displacement).
If I'm filling a cooling system and witness the endless stream of bubbles, that leads me to do the other test while the engine is shut off.
The main difference in the process is I'm using shop air pressure on a non-running engine, the OPs looker was using the engines actual combustion pressure as the engine runs. It works ok as long as the leakage rate isn't super slow.
The results of the test boil down to the same thing, a leaking head gasket. His method only lets him know it's a head gasket.....my method narrows leakage down to specific cylinders which in turn can clue me in as to whether or not the head might be warped......but in the end the fix is no different, a head gasket job.
If you're wondering why the level in the funnel rises roughly a half quart before it starts letting 'air' burp out, you need to look at the height of the radiator cap in relation to the height of the liquid inside the cylinder head and understand that a lot of liquid has to be displaced before the 'air' bubble can work its way from the head to the radiator.
After it has done this a couple times, the liquid level stabilizes somewhat and the endless stream of bubbles becomes obvious without the liquid level dropping.
If it was burping a trapped air pocket (without a head gasket breach), the liquid level would drop as air is worked out of the system (replacement instead of displacement).
05-31-2017
#15
OF top 99.5% creator (Formerly of the Puffinblunts variety)
Re: Funnel buddy head gasket test
The results of the test boil down to the same thing, a leaking head gasket. His method only lets him know it's a head gasket.....my method narrows leakage down to specific cylinders which in turn can clue me in as to whether or not the head might be warped......but in the end the fix is no different, a head gasket job.
