[Elder]

i was driving my car today like normal wasnt racing or even beating on it. i pulled up to a stop sign and noticed a cloud of white smoke i was kinda confused so i turned off and looked down and my temp gauge was buried in the red. so i shut it down right away and noticed some antifreeze comin out from one of the outlet hoses of the radiator. waited a couple hours came back rolled the key on temp was back to low so i started it nothing leaked. but i smoked white again when i started it. does this sound like a blown head gasket to anyone else??

[BizCutt]

do you have milky oil?? was or is the coolant low after this happened? could be head gasket , could be many other things to...

[Elder]

oil not milky and its not low which is why im so confused/

[Doc8224]

You said there was coolant coming out of a hose? which one excatly, and was it just leaking or was it coming out pretty fast?

[Ryan Paymaster]

Maybe the hose just blew off or is lose/old? The cloud may have been coolant pouring onto the hot engine block or manifold/headers.

If it was coming from the exhaust then I dunno what that could be besides a headgasket.

[Doc8224]

Originally Posted by Ryan Paymaster Maybe the hose just blew off or is lose/old? The cloud may have been coolant pouring onto the hot engine block or manifold/headers. If it was coming from the exhaust then I dunno what that could be besides a headgasket.

Thats what I was kinda thinkin. sprayin a little stream onto the exhaust.

[Elder]

the white smoke was coming out the complete exhaust and only between shits or when in neutral as far as i kno. the coolant was coming out of and outlet hose it has no hole and i filled it back up with coolant and started it and its not leaking. im starting to lean more towards a stuck thermostat

[BizCutt]

you sure it not oil smoke rather than coolant smoke???

[StangAddiction]

If you think your head gasket is blown and coolant is getting into the engine then check your coolant reservoir... The coolant will be 1.) lower and 2.) possibly bubbling. When my head gasket blew the car drove fine besides a crap load of smoke, but i knew right away the head gasket was blown when i saw that my coolant was bubbling.

[HMUSN]

ya could simply do a compression test..

[Elder]

checked the oil for coolant. none. took the radiator cap off and let the car run to idling temp. didnt not bubble. still blowing white smoke however so my plan is to pull a plug tomorrow if it burned white its the intake gasket. easy enough for me. any other thoughts

[Ryan Paymaster]

What? Pulling a plug to see if it is "burning white" to be an intake gasket? If the car is smoking a bit between shifts I'm not entirely sold on this being an intake gasket.

Help. Are you saying maybe an intake gasket is letting a bit of coolant leak or something like that? Coolant shows pretty much as white steam. Oil can show up as blue/grey and an A/F ratio being off could really be any color minus blue.

This is seriously what a nicely blown headgasket will look like:

YouTube - Blown Head Gasket

If your car is smoking only between shifts this could be an issue related to oil consumption, A/F ratio, blow-by, or any number of other ridiculous occurances and minor troubles with a car.

[StangAddiction]

Originally Posted by Ryan Paymaster What? Pulling a plug to see if it is "burning white" to be an intake gasket? If the car is smoking a bit between shifts I'm not entirely sold on this being an intake gasket. Help. Are you saying maybe an intake gasket is letting a bit of coolant leak or something like that? Coolant shows pretty much as white steam. Oil can show up as blue/grey and an A/F ratio being off could really be any color minus blue. This is seriously what a nicely blown headgasket will look like: YouTube - Blown Head Gasket If your car is smoking only between shifts this could be an issue related to oil consumption, A/F ratio, blow-by, or any number of other ridiculous occurances and minor troubles with a car.

WHen my head gasket blew it didn't look that bad at all... The exhuast smoked worse than seafom but it wasn't a smoke storm. Besides i think if it was the head gasket you'd definitely notice.. And if you're head gasket is blow it'll smoke anytime and ALL the time the engine is running. I mean it is burning oil and/or coolant btw..

Other than that, I agree with the statement in red...

[Elder]

ya it was no where new that bad. i still havent got the 02's adjusted from the l/t's so i guess that could have something to do with it.

[Ryan Paymaster]

Originally Posted by StangAddiction WHen my head gasket blew it didn't look that bad at all... The exhuast smoked worse than seafom but it wasn't a smoke storm. Besides i think if it was the head gasket you'd definitely notice.. And if you're head gasket is blow it'll smoke anytime and ALL the time the engine is running. I mean it is burning oil and/or coolant btw.. Other than that, I agree with the statement in red...

When I saw my friend's 1989 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z blow a head gasket it was quite intense, I based this off one occurance. Since this is a Ford forum maybe we can do the usual poke-fun-of-Chevy and say, "typical for a Chevy." At least it isn't a Dodge where you have to cancel your health insurance plan to put funds into a "new transmission next year" fund.