Could this be a blown head gasket?

Hi All i need a bit of help, i've always been taught when a head gasket goes there would be a mayonnaise substance in the water tank or on the oil cap but mine dosent have any. I've just done a 400 mile round trip and she's emptied the water tank twice, she's running like a bag of bolts on idle and man is she drinking alot of petrol now but i guess that's due to the fact she's trying to compensate for the erratic idle. I don't have massive amounts of white smoke but i did see some when i was stuck in traffic on the way home today. I also have a whistling nose from the back middle towards the right near the battery and i think that's a vacuum hose but i'm going to look for that later i don't think that could be a symptom of a head gasket. I was wondering if this could be the head gasket as i'm not looking forward to stripping the engine down. I have a 1995 LX Ford Escort 16v 1.6 EFI engine.

If smoke from the exhaust is white, it's the head gasket. If it's black, it's the oil.

If the head gasket is blown and is allowing coolant (water) to leak into the combustion chambers, the water and oil mix to create a milky looking emulsion (the mayo).

If you've only looked inside the oil cap, then look again but this time lift the dipstick and see how the oil there looks. Lift it, wipe it, replace it then remove and examine it.

The head gasket could be blowing but the coolant escaping out of the engine (not into the combustion chambers).

If the oil looks normal (golden to black & shiny) then you may just have a water (coolant) leak. That's the more obvious diagnosis since the only apparent symptom is coolant loss. Coolant loss could be from a leaky hose, a loose hose clip, a worn water pump or a punctured radiator. A leaky hose (or clip) could cause the whistle: that needn't be an air leak (i.e. Vacuum hose or air intake).

Don't always assume the worst - that's the job of professional mechanics who charge £60 an hour labour.

Yeah

Yes it could or crack in the block

Just do a easy combustion leak test it will confirm if you have a bad head gasket.

And it could be a lot of other things too. The hissing is probably steam escaping. It would indicate a hose leak at the heater or other location, but you get the idea. Not finding and repairing the problem could cost you an engine. Unless you have $2,000 or more to put down on repairs, you will want to get this looked at soon as in now, not an hour from now.

Step 1: Borrow the cooling system pressure tester that AutoZone, Oreilleys, etc. Will let you borrow.

You could have a simple cooling system leak. A hose. The radiator. The water pump shaft seal.

A head gasket leak could have one or more of several symptoms. If the coolant is getting into a cylinder, it will come out the tailpipe as white smoke (steam). Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. It's usually apparent at night, believe it or not. You can see it in the headlights of the car behind you. It doesn't have to be like a cloud.

You say emptied the "water tank" twice. Which water tank? The radiator? Or the coolant reservoir?

Most people don't understand how that reservoir works. If the active cooling system gets low, it will only suck some coolant in when the engine is shut off and is cooling. And if the cooling system is VERY low, it can't suck the whole amount in at one time. AND, the reservoir will not give fluid to the engine while it's running.
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