Decatur is a small city located in northeastern Georgia, just 5 miles northeast of Atlanta. The city was founded in 1823 at the intersection of two Native American trails and named after US naval hero Stephen Decatur.
The main function of a head gasket is to hold engine compression while keeping oil and coolant circulation separate. Undetected blown head gaskets cause coolant and oil mixing, which could lead to severe engine damage, such as engine block cracking.
Overheating is normally associated with blown head gaskets, but the cylinder head and engine block can fail nearly as easily, and do fail in many cases. Driving the vehicle when a known head gasket issue is present can or will result in head gasket failure, cylinder head failure, engine block failure, or a combination of the three.