Head Gasket Diagnosis with Super Mario Diagnostics

Our tech installation video contest received lots of great entries. Here's Super Mario Diagnostics performing a head gasket diagnosis with no disassembly.
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*Disclaimer*
At CARDONE we cannot guarantee against improper interpretation or application of the information we present in this video. You should always follow the enclosed safety guidelines, consult your OE repair manual for correct specifications when performing any install or repair procedure. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user, and not of CARDONE Industries.

[@fredigonzalez4372]

Hi Mario great job Im your fan number one, keep up the great job you perform…!!!

[@albertcassler8763]

You could have looked inside the radiator to see bubbles to indicate a blown head gasket...duh

[@SuperMarioDiagnostics]

Albert Cassler the radiator was blown out midway, could not top off

[@waynep343]

Cold Engine. remove radiator cap. place a piece of Saran wrap over the radiator filler neck. push a depression into the saran wrap. use a rubber band to seal the saran wrap to the filler neck. squeeze the upper hose to verify the depression inflates and when you release that it deflates.. crank or start the engine for 15 seconds.. if the cold engine cranking or running inflates the depression.. you have a head gasket leak or cracked combustion chamber. if you are in a shop setting. leave the saran wrap on the filler neck.. set up a cylinder leak down tester.. bring each piston one at a time to TDC.. and apply compressed air.. if the depression in the saran wrap inflates or blows off.. you have prove the leak. leave that set up for the customer to come by.. hook up the shop air and have them see the saran wrap inflate or blow off. if the engine is not going to be torn down that day... please drain the coolant completely . start the engine and let it run for 1 minute without coolant.. this will blow the coolant out of the cylinder.. if you have somebody helping .. give the PCV or a pulled off vacuum hose a squirt of WD40 seconds before you shut the engine off.. this lubes the cylinder walls and protects against rust build up that will take your head gasket job to a complete engine overhaul and may price the job right out the door to the scrap yard. without coolant in the engine block and heads.. you can operate a cold engine for about a minute.. this is generally enough time to get the car out of your bay and into a parking spot outside close by.. please put a big note on the steering wheel.. NO COOLANT.. DO NOT REFILL.. blown head gasket.. ask (your name) for instructions. there is nothing worse than having a porter see that note.. and top off the cooling system with water.. drive the car to the back of the lot and let it sit for 2 days or a month while the customer decides or comes up with the cash.. then you tear the engine down only to find the massive damage from water in the cylinders that way exceeds the head job estimate. with one warning. just draining the radiator does NOT always drain the block below the head gasket surfaces.. you usually have to drain the block via the drain plugs in the block.

[@donothack7330]

You are a mechanic. He likes to play with electronic toys.

[@wyattoneable]

Mario does great work and is really taking diagnostics seriously and for good reason. This saved a lot of time.

[@donothack7330]

He could have pulled the oil cap and checked for coolant mixed with the oil. He could have placed a paper towel at the tailpipe and checked the exhaust for coolant that didn't burn. He could have removed the radiator cap and checked for bubbles in the coolant. He could have raised the RPM and watched for a large white cloud to leave the tailpipe. He could have checked the coolant and oil levels to see if there was too much in one and not enough in the other. He doesn't have a clue what he's doing and he certainly doesn't know how to diagnose a vehicle while "saving time".

[@SuperMarioDiagnostics]

DO NOT HACK the oil cap showed no signs of oil mixing with coolant since that's not the type of failure that this vehicle exhibited. The vehicle barely ran, and only ran enough to get it into the shop, there was no signs of coolant or heavy white smoke coming out of the exhaust. The radiator was ruptured around the center, my attempts at topping off the cooling system we're useless. So there wasn't a chance of catching bubbles, if that were the case, I wouldn't have wasted time with a pulse sensor, it would've damaged my sensor. This was a case of small leakage of combustion pressures entering the cooling system. Which resulted in a ruptured radiator. Thanks for the kind words.

[@rondail5675]

You will teardown the top,. Will you change both head gaskets? Do valves?

[@SuperMarioDiagnostics]

Ron Dail client did not approve moving any further

[@randygould4109]

congrats mario