besides taking a compression test?

steam coming out the exhaust is a sure sign.

Like the previous post said plus you will see antrifreeze/water dripping out the exhaust.

With motor cool take the radiator cap off and start car. After warming up and t-stat opens look for bubbles in radiator.

Could also look at spark plugs, see if wet ?

Another sure sign is the engine oil looking like mud.

I'm with Doug, watch for bubbles.

Most autoshops that do engine work have a tool that draws air out of the cooling system and bubbles it through a colored liquid. If the liquid changes from blue to yellow, ( or is it the otherway around? ) hydrocarbons are present in the cooling system.

ok when u say steal coming out the exhaust do u mean while driving because when i start my car in the morning it smokes a little and then after like 3 minutes there isnt any

Are you losing anti-freeze? Is the head wet around the block where it seals in certain areas? Have you overheated this engine lately? Why do you think that you might have a blown head gasket? I saw a car going down road yesterday that had vapor/steam coming out exhaust and it wasnt really cold here so obviously this car had head gasket problems. The head has water ports around each cylinder and gasket seals these off so they dont enter combustion chambers. Hope this is of some help. smile.gif

Might just be that its cold as heck in Virgina and thats just normal vapor, esp if it goes away after a few minutes. I think what the others are getting at is, why do you think your head gasket is blown? Vapor from the exhaust is normal when its cold.

Take a dab of the condensate on the inside if the tailpipe after you start it up on you finger and taste for antifreeze (sweet).

And why not the compression test? it's not expensive, it's easy...

maybe im just period because my riend has a 92 rs and he just blew a head gasket but the white smoke from his exhaust was way heavier than mine......still scared me a bit... mine only happens when it starts up in the morning or like if it sets for a few hours and then i start it again it smokes for like 6 seconds and stops..

Compression test, easy? on an 86 V8 car? haha

lol, i agree there jimM....
if your not losing any antifreeze, dont worry about it...