How can you tell the difference between a HG failure and a slipped liner?

Just got a truck with a "blown motor" and trying to figure out if I'm going to need a new block.

Thanks.

 

Remove Heads.

 

Why guess, as mentioned, pull the engine down and see.

 

Whether it's head gaskets or a slipped liner the heads have to come off to know for sure and repair. If you do have a slipped liner a machine shop can reline the cylinder for about $800 per cylinder.

What symptoms are you getting from the blown engine? Will it run at all? Usually the engine will continue to run even with blown head gaskets or slipped liner it will just run poorly and use a large amount of coolant.