One day about two months ago I noticed a little more than usual white smoke coming from my exhaust. Keep in mind it is still January about 30 something degrees. I got stuck at a light and the cooling temp went into the red for maybe 15 seconds. I got going again and it cooled down.

When I got home I took a look at everything and came to the conclusion that it may be a head gasket. I said this because, there continued to be white smoke and coolant level was decreasing. The oil looked ok, not like chocolate milk.

A few days after that I did the same check on the car and it still had the same symptoms, so I figured it was a head gasket,

Since then I haven't driven or messed with it until today. I changed the oil and it looked fine. The engine runs smooth, it could use some new plugs though.

I'm really confused if this is a head gasket, or cooling problem or what. What kind of tests can I do to narrow it down?

Thanks yall

 

I say pull the plug and look at them, see if there any coolant etc.

 

Mine started acting strange for a little while before the head gasket completely went.

 

Would a cooling system pressure test do anything? What should I look for with this test?

After this I was thinking about getting a compression test and leak down test done. What numeric results should I look for with these tests?

Thanks

 

well if its cold out is always going to smoke a bit, I say you may have air in the system. What tells me is that you said it went into the red and then as soon as the rpms went up the temp droped, thats because of poor circulation. And you said coolant keeps disappearing, yet another sign.
I would flush the coolant out and then fill it with fresh 50/50 mixture and then let it warm up with the two bleeder screws out. Mine did the same thing a month ago. give it a try

 

What will it do with the two bleeder screws out?

 

Dont take 'em out, just open them a bit while its running so it will release any air in the system. dont close them till there is a steady stream of coolant coming out of the bleeder screws and always watch your gages, do not over heat. when it gets over 210, let it sit for a while and try agian later and while the engine is off refill the radiator with coolant. once you think all the air is out, close the bleeders and let it sit for a few more hours so it will cool down and pull coolant out of the reserve tank if needed.