How do I easily diagnose a blown head gasket?

[skiguy]

Me again,

THe 91 Turbo completed 85 kilometers of stage rally last Saturday. Trouble is the rally was 87 km long. The motor just ground to a halt. It would restart, but stall when the clutch was let out. SOrt of like it had no power. When cooled the motor ran for about 15 mins (limp home) until the symptoms reappeared.

THere appears to be oil in the intake after the maf (via pcv???) and there is oil in the plug galleries.

I am going to do a compression test tomorrow, but just wanted to see what the group thought.

Cheers

[ciper]

Oil in the intake is "normal" within a certain amount.
Oil in the plugs can be normal because of seal leaks.

Headgasket problems usually don't result in such a loss of power. Sounds more like fouled plugs or low compression.

[quicklook]

you do a compression check.

[93forestpearl]

Bringing a small coolant sample to the right place will tell you whether or not you have a leaking headgasket.