Yesterday I noticed after driving my car that smoke was coming out of the exhaust pipes a minute or two after I had shut the engine down. I went back down and checked the oil (looked fine, normal color), and started it up. When I started it, the tailpipes started *belching* white smoke (pretty sure it was white, hard to tell because it was dark). I let it run for about two minutes, and it did slow down a bit, but never stopped. The smoke didn't smell like burning oil, so I'm guessing it's coolant, which I'm guessing means I need a new head gasket.

If that's what the problem is, how hard are they to replace? What kind of tools do I need? I don't have much with me at college, but I might be able to get access to some. Also, does anyone know about what a mechanic charges for this type of thing in case I can't do it myself?

 

mechanics would probably charge a decently heavy amount. there is a write-up on how to take off the intake manifold on shoebox's website http://shbox.com/ci/cam_removal.html follow that and swap out the gasket when the manifold is taken off

 

I believe book time on that is around 11 hours. so figure ~700 in labor alone, plus probably 400 in gaskets, fluids, head bolts, etc. Plus you should have the heads pressure checked and at the least surfaced while they';re off thats anohter $150. I'd imagine without a lift or air tools it'd take you an entire weekend to do if you're never done it before.

 

Well crap, that sucks. Guess I'll try to find someone with enough tools so I can do it myself before I go home.

 

I took some pictures of what was going on, before I decide what to do I want to make sure that this is definitely a head gasket.

Here's the smoke from the exhaust, this is after the car had been running about 15 seconds:

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...0448resize.jpg
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...0450resize.jpg

Here's the oil, note that this oil has been in the car for a few months, I was about to do an oil change before all of this happened:

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...0444resize.jpg

So is that for sure a head gasket problem?

 

my car is doing the exact thing, more so when its cold out. When I first would turn it on it would smoke like that then after driving it, it would stop. If I'd drive it then stop, get out it wouldnt be doing it anymore. My cars overheated twice I'm pretty sure its a head gasket. I need to do mine eventually but its not that bad of a leak, I only added a little bit of coolant after 8k. Check your coolant level to see if its noticibly low.

BTW that oil looks fine, I took my oil to get tested at a friends company who does oil testing, and they said there was no water in it. I was freaking that my bearings were getting tarnished.

 

use the Impala HG it will raise your compression (two birds with one stone)