Summer

iTrader: (9)

Hey guys, I have been having some to-be serious issues with my car lately and I would like to figure out wat the problem is asap before it gets worse. My car is a 1999 3.8 has 150,xxx miles on it and i have taken very good car of from the start and i have had pretty good luck with it so far, but i knew something was bound to happen sooner or later. For the past 15000 miles or so when i would crank my car when it was cold, it would have a very very rough idol at first. For the first 5 seconds the car would sound like it had a cam in it. It would literally shake back and forth and then even itself out like it never really happened. Then one day while i was stopped in traffic the car all of sudden ran EXTREMELY hot and i pulled over and had to put water in it. it was very low so we flushed out the coolant and put new in and filled it up all the way and i thought i was fine then a few days later we checked the fluid level and it was super low so we filled it up and it happened again...and my car smelled of antifreeze when i was driving. Tried checking the ground for leaks when it sat there but there was nothing...and today for the first time, i cranked the car (after its usual 5 seconds of rough idol), put in reverse and i saw a little puff of white smoke from my exhaust pipes. the car seems to be running sluggish lately (not bc its a v6 lol but really different than wat im used too) but im not burning any oil and changed out my spark plugs about 40, xxx mils ago

any suggestions??

thanks
Summer

iggys11secz

first thing i would check is your oil and see if you've got coolant mixed in with it. just pull the dipstick and either smell it or taste it. coolant has a sweet bitter taste. if you are loosing coolant that much and you don't see any visible puddles or leaks, it's a good indication that you've got an internal leak. just my .02 let us know what you find out.

JEB Garner

Sounds as if you may have a blown head gasket.

nofearracing28

iTrader: (7)

X2 on the head gasket

waldershrek

iTrader: (1)

Yep, sounds like a head gasket to me. Your coolant is leaking into the oil and then when you start it you get the anti-freeze burning off resulting in white smoke.