What causes a head gasket to get damaged?

Question

2000 Jeep Cherokee...if you can please list all possibilities.

I had my radiator replaced on my truck last november after 3yrs. Everything was fine until yesterday my car literally leaked all the coolant out of the car. I took it to a mechanic today...they said that the radiator is damaged in addition my head gasket is also damaged. I have a warranty on the radiator but I wanted to see if I would be able to also have them take care of my engine if I could proof that the broken head gasket was a direct result of the radiator breaking. I have never had any signs or problem at all before...this happened yesterday for the first time and I literally watched all the coolant just drip out of the car.

Any suggestions as to how to go about this will also help.

Answer 1

one reason why headgaskets fail is bad design the number one reason they fail is the customer has a leak they drive home to have it looked at instead of pulling over right away the engine overheats and now the head gasket will leak pressure and ruin radiator hoses heater core and any other weak part in the cooling system i havent had a customer yet that could prove that they didnt overheat the engine multiple times before bringing it to me  

Answer 2

age! sometimes when they get old, they will leak, or letting it get too hot will make them blow.

Answer 3

An overheating car can cause a head gasket to fail. Normally though, if the engine is stopped when the warning light goes on or the gauge gets into or near the red zone, it won't. It has happened though, and the overheating is almost undoubtedly the cause of the failure. Unfortunately for you, a blown head gasket can also cause a car to overheat. I know it's the chicken or the egg scenario. But an overheating car rarely causes a radiator to fail, so I'm guessing the radiator failure came first. Good luck.

Answer 4

Driving your vehicle without coolant can cause a blown head gasket.  If your head gasket blew before coolant started leaking, its hard to say what might have caused it.  But if it started leaking way before, and you drove without coolant and the engine got hot, that could cause it to happen.

Answer 5

over heating but i have never seen a head gasket go out on one of them i would take it to a 2nd shop

Answer 6

just to let it be known. when a head gasket fails it can let the exhaust gassed in to the cooling system building high pressure and this is what could have caused the radiator to blow apart. I've seen this myself. especially if you were not losing any coolant before it blew. the head gasket could have been from something like a bad water pump to a bad thermostat

Answer 7

Were you driving the car when this happened? If you lost all of your coolant while you were driving, your car would overheat, which would absolutely cause your head gasket to go. I don't think the warranty for the radiator will cover the head gasket. They will tell you if it was leaking, you shouldn't have been driving the car.