QuestionI own a 94 mitsubishi galant, 2.4L single over-head cam. I recently had my distributer replaced. Two weeks after that, my water pump blew on the turn pike, and the moment I stopped the car, it went completely dead. The engine was smoking heavily. When I got the car towed back to my house, I attempted to start it, but all I got was a whining buzz from the engine. I've been told it could be the distributer, a warped head, or a blown head gasket. How can I tell?
AnswerRob,
If your water pump went out on you, then the most common result would be a blown head gasket. When the temperature of your engine gets that high because of lack of water flow, intense amount of steam and pressure start building up in your engine. When the temperatures and pressures get high enough, inevitably, the head gasket will blow. If the smoke you noticed was very thick, white, and kind of sweet smelling, you definitely blew your head gasket. The intense heat can also warp the head of your engine. So, you've already experinced the tell-tale signs. Another way to tell if your head gasket is warped is that your compression would be very low. Any garage can give you an compression test, but form what you told me, I would bet on a bad head gasket as well. Get a few price quotes from some garages before you take it in. Replacing a distributor, head, and head gasket can cost you around $2000 with labor, depending on who quotes you.
Good luck!
