How dangerous is a blown head gasket?

I have a honda integra 1990 had a recent radiator problem lots of over heating all fixed now.

Just discovered recently my head gasket is blown just curious is it worth replacing? What does it exactly do when its blown?

Be smart, just have a used engine installed. Once the head is super heated it might need replacing too.

There are to very large components to an engine.

there's the engine block which has the cylinders that move up and down and the crankshaft that turns, then there's the cylinder head that lies on top that holds all the valves, the camshafts, and also has the intake and exhaust piping holes.

these 2 parts look like this.

this is an engine block.

and this is a head cylinder head.

these parts are bolted together and as you may imagine the seal in between them is very important.
if there's not an airtight seal in between, the explosions of burning fuel will escape causing major problems through the engine and other car components.

thats where the head gasket comes in.
a head gasket goes in between the engine block and cylinder head to make sure that any tiny imperfections are sealed.
gaskets can be made of specialized metals. Composites or even specialized rubber-like materials. Head gaskets fill in the tiny imperfections and create a seal so that the engine is airtight during compression and combustion.
this is what a head gasket looks like.

when a head gasket is blown it means that this part has broken. Causing a leak of gasses including burning fuel from the inside of the cylinder to other parts of the engine.
one of these parts is the cooling system.
you need to replace this part. You are losing power and reliability. The longer you wait the more extreme your problems will be. I would not be surprised if part of your radiator issues might have been sparked by a blown head gasket.

here is a picture of a blown head gasket to show you how it looks like when it is broken

any of the cooling or lubrication fluids that move through the smaller hole around C will be severely affected by this.

you should replace that head gasket as quickly as possible.

It is not dangerous at all. It will cause your coolant level to go down. If you don't keep it filled, the engine will overheat and can destroy it.

Gets antifreeze into the oil which will ruin the bearings and/or puts too much pressure in the cooling system which will blow the hoses off and make the water pump leak. Bottom line is you'll be walking if you don't repair it. I'd look for a different car and either sell yours, trade it in, or junk it.

Other answerers have it right. This needs to be fixed As soon as possible if you plan on driving the car anywhere. I mean, even if you're only going to the store a couple miles down the road. Get it fixed before you drive it again!

Go to a trusted mechanic and have the shop give you a quote for replacing your head gasket. Then look up your car's market value. If it costs much more to replace the gasket than the car is worth, then no, it's probably not worth it and you should probably sell it.

As another answerer said, I think if you were having overheating problems you might now have a warped head-- so maybe it's not your head gasket's fault so much as it is your head becoming warped due to the overheating problem. If that's the case, your engine is pretty much dead, and you'll need to find a donor engine from another Integra-- or perhaps just scrap your car for parts and buy another old beater to drive around.