I have a 1997 Camaro Z28 LT1 in Kentucky



about a week ago while driving down the interstate my temp gauge and lights went nuts cause i had a heater hose bust at the heater core flow valve just off the water pump. as soon as the lights went on I pulled over and cut the car off with the temp wrapping around the 260 mark. on the side of the interstate i rigged up a copper couple that happened to be in the hatch from that was going to be used for the TB bypass. fixed refilled coolant and been running normal temps. The last few days i've began to notice a tiny bit of power loss once it warms up. Then once i got home this morning i seen white smoke or steam coming from next to the valve covers near the intake manifold. so when it cooled off and i woke up this afternoon i checked the oil and no coolant and then popped off the radiator cap and started her up and topped it off cause it was low. after about 30 seconds i started to get a continuous amount of bubbles in the radiator. My question is " Blown head gasket?"

 

It's sounding like it sadly. Don't rely on it showing up in the oil though sometimes unless it's severe you may not even notice a thing . I ran my car for a Year with a blown gasket miss diagnosed because it never had the tall tell signs. Oil was always Clean and clear. It wasn't till I tore the engine down and dropped the oil pan that the wonderful milky cream of coolant and oil was apparent.

The best thing to check though is the exhaust. It might smell a little sweet, and you should be able to feel the moisture if the HG is blown. The missing coolant (with no hose leaks) is a dead giveaway though.

 

Sounds like you have air,that needs to be bled out of the cooling system.

 

i'll check the exhaust definitly after work on the way home. and if it had air in that needed bleeded wouldn't the temp gauge run real fast to 260?

 

You could also do a leak down test,or compression test on it.

 

those are the next two things i'm gonna do. first thing monday morning. but not getting my hopes up. i'm pricing and looking up the head gasket R&R. Any tips tricks or advice would be greatly appriciated