Head gasket or fule pump

Asked by Seth Feb 19, 2020 at 12:58 AM about the 1999 Ford Explorer 4 Dr Limited 4WD SUV

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

So I was on my way to work yesterday and my car died on
my down the off ramp and had to start bak up it died
agian when I parked I got smoke coming out my oil and
smells like gas is that a blown head gasket or fule pump

1 Answer

103,215

A compression test will tell you if it was a head gasket. You can borrow or rent a compression tester from most any parts store. It screws into the spark plug hole, so if you can change a spark plug you can do a compression test. There's really no other way to tell if or how bad a head gasket is. None of your symptoms sound like a bad fuel pump, so I wouldn't waste your time pursuing that. (Your symptoms don't sound like a blown head gasket either.) Even a totally blown head gasket would not leak fuel into the crankcase or cause a large amount of smoke to emit from there. On the other hand, a bad valve seal or piston ring would. A leaking fuel injector can play havoc on a cylinder, some of that leaking fuel gets through the rings and into the crankcase (on top of causing misfires or knocking). You look like you have some investigating to do.

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