Tons of white smoke
 

Mom's Pontiac Montana with the 3400 engine is having issues. Rough idle, TONS of white smoke, when revved. Coolant tank looks like chocolate milk. Oil is dark, but dad says it looks like oil, although she just had it changed three weeks ago. No visible leaks, at least what my dad says. I notice it looks kind of wet on the left side of the head/block.

0201: cylinder misfire
0401: insufficient flow

LIMG? Or head gasket? Dad seems to think the latter, however I jump on the LIMG bandwagon.

its definitely head gasket problem

Yeah with those codes, I'd vote the head gasket

i could tell without looking at the codes :)

most everyone we've called/talked to says head gasket no doubt. its leaking near cyl 1 allowing the coolant to enter the exhaust

gay. you know how hard it is to work on the alero's 3400, try it on a montana. it is IMPOSSIBLE to reach the rear spark plugs. IMPOSSIBLE without pulling the engine.

so now my mom's without a vehicle for quite some time, don't have the ability/money to fix it at the moment. they're talking about having her drive MY ALERO to work and back and shopping and shit. NO ONE drives my alero. and i need to monitor it as im throwing lean codes too, due to my tapping into the O2 sensor for my A/F gauge, as far as i know. hell my dad's even talking about selling my alero since it uses 93 octane and gas is going to get up to $4 a gallon very soon, says my car's a waste of money, no need to make it fast (i owe like a grand still on the car so its not totally mine yet)

this is bullllshit

ion trying doing spark plugs on a buick t type without the right tools it is nearly impossible without taking off the turbo pipes.

hah, that's nothing, pulling the entire engine i think would be more fun to do to just change 3 plugs

anybody know where to pick up a cheapass car that runs? auctions? lol she needs something to drive

eff this shit they're taking the alero

my mom works like in the effin ghetto too. every car she drives ends up getting effed up, broken in some way. or she crashes it.

i have NO coverage other than medical on my car. so bye bye alero, everyone who has a nice one gets it stolen or effed. this is what happens to mine.

aw man, permanently?
that's bs, are they giving you your money back?

guess you're like me, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if someone else was driving my car

but yeah, looks like you're the one who's getting the cheap car that runs eh?
anyway, what's gonna happen to the van? or what are you gonna drive?

not permanently but until her car gets fixed. doing a headgasket i just realized is a hell of a lot easier than the LIMG.

i'm not going to drive, they're going to drop me off at my college campus and i get to walk to classes. its not a safe area either, many get mugged. neither is my mom's workplace, so it'll be great having my modded alero sitting there like a BIG RED STICKERED UP sore thumb in the ghetto parking lot.

it's almost guaranteed my car will either be wrecked, jacked up, or stolen. lol. and i get to exercise on my way to class damnit.

Don't think so negative bro.

[quote='[ion] C2;314446']not permanently but until her car gets fixed. doing a headgasket i just realized is a hell of a lot easier than the LIMG. QUOTE]

You have to take the limg off to get the heads off. Its not very hard on the alero but I don't know about a van, that doesn't sound fun.

yeah theres no way it would be possible in the engine bay lol. where it says 3400 SFI begins the body, so half the engine is inaccessible

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White exhaust smoke is always a sign of a blown head gasket. I know from past experience with a Buick 3.8 and a Chevy 350.

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you could move out and take your car with you :haha:

haha i do live away but that would be an ass move, it's not like working one day a week at near min. wage can support me lol

my dad says most likely i'll get to keep the alero with me, either he'll get up early and drive her or something else.

No offense, bro... But just get in there and rebuild the engine.

I have never rebuilt an engine (or even done anything more complicated than a tune-up) in my LIFE, and I tore into a Dodge 5.9L V8 Magnum, replaced every gasket, every hose, the radiator, water pump, plugs, wires, fan clutch... Basically the ENTIRE engine compartment in one weekend, about 16 total hours of work. Only help I had was my wife helping me wrap masking tape around wires to label them.

If I can do it, anyone can do it. It's all about how much you love you alero and if you can front the $100 for the gasket set. :)

-Brad

LOL i think you missed the content of the first post..

- this is not my vehicle we're talking about that has the problem
- i have the LD9 2.4L Twin Cam not the LA1 3400 SFI
- if my engine was having gasket or internal issues it'd be torn apart and back together within a day or two :)

this vehicle they wanted to trade in, i was pushing for an SRT-4 for my mom LOLOL. but it seems they waited too long to trade the van in because now this happened

Also, you mentioned you were in college...

When I turned 18, if my mom would have told me she was taking my car, I would have told her precisely where to go and how the hell to get there. Then, I would have handed her a bus schedule and a sock full of quarters.

Of course, I have a unique relationship with my parents. :)

-Brad

Right... You would want to rebuild the blown engine. Not the good one. lol.

....which is what I meant. :)

-Brad