Are there specific symptoms for a blown head gasket on my 2003 Chev. Malibu?

Noticed frozen puddle on ground under the right front of vehicle. Checked overflow and radiator - no coolant/water that we could see. Put in coolant/water and drove 3 miles to garage. He found a hose that had apparently frozen and blown which we repaired. But, he said it might also be a blown head gasket. He does not do heavy engine work, so we took it to a local garage that does. They had the car for half a day, checked it out and gave us the estimate for a blown head gasket. As I said previously, I have been driving the car short distances, and it does not appear like we are losing water/coolant, no icons, running O.K. I do notice that the termperature gauge is not registering like it used to. When the car warmed up, the needle usually sat a hair below the midway mark. Now, when it has warmed up, the needle sits between the 1/4 and 1/2 mark.

Frozen coolant can result in numerous failures .. The shop probably performed a combustion leak test - which revealed a failed head gasket .. You can always ask. Good luck!