Pressure Testing Tool, Radiator and Cylinder Head?

I am thinking about buying a coolant system pressure tester, the kind that attaches to the top of the radiator and has a hand pump to pressurize the cooling system. My question is can this tool also be used to pressure check a cylinder head for cracks?
I have repeatedly read that pressure checking a cylinder head to check for cracks may be more reliable than magnafluxing the head, but can that type of cylinder head pressure check be done with the coolant system pressure testing tool or is there a different tool used to check the cylinder head?

No expertise at all but I don't see why not. You would be looking for leak down and the that could only happen via a crack...of coarse that assumes one side of the crack faces the water jacket. I do question anything being better than magnaflux given that a pro is doing the check.

Autozone has those on their loaner program.

The two times I tried to use it It was no help. I was looking for GM 3.8 plastic intake manifold and 350 truck intake leaks.

Any radiator shop should be able to do it ..(free or small fee)

Try a different machine shop, mine will mill and magnaflux a B head for $40.

That is the price range I got after calling a half a dozen shops recommended by members of my local British car club. Even the machine shop at Levine Auto wanted $122 per head.

As for the radiators I think the shop I spoke to a few years ago wanted something like $40 each and they were not to happy with the idea of testing anything that wasn't installed in a vehicle, so that’s about $250 for the radiators and another $500 for the heads. At those prices it might be worth me taking a trip to visit one of the shops near you guys. :)
(FWIW Pizza is now up to $3 a slice and cigarettes are over $9 a pack, so it's not just the automotive industry around here but that's a discussion for the OT forum)

$50 here in the heartland. Cigs are $4/pack

I had hoped someone would give you a definitive answer who has actually done it. I am sure I read on this forum of the trick but don't recall....I don't recall a lot lately....:S

I have a Stant unit that works fine but I wouldn't rely on one to pressure tst a head. When you do a pressure test on the head, you take it apart, block all of the openings, slap a plate in it that seals the combustion chamber side, pump up the pressure to 100+ psi and immerse it in water. A coolant sustem checker only goes to 14-16 psi and it won't detect any crack that doesn't go to the water jacket. So a crack from the combustion chamber to a spark plug hole doesn't show up on a coolant system check and neither does a crack between pushrod tubes. Magnaflux and pressure testing is best done by a machine shop with the right equipment. It's a great idea to have a coolant system checker but it's not the right tool for pressure testing a head.

What Basil said. To check radiators out of the car you would need to plug the holes for the hoses & you still wouldn't know whether they were functional, not leaking doesn't mean not clogged.