1998 Pontiac Bonneville white smoke

Tiny
CRZ1
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE
  • 3.8L
  • V6
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 139,000 MILES
-car has been great no overheats, runs smooth, 27mpg. Until 2 days ago went to start it made a clunk noise - try to start again and started just fine but a huge billow of white smoke and check eng light came on. Hooked up to the computer device and it showed just one code PO301 misfire in #1 cyl. Took out that plug and saw the gap was huge so regapped it at.060 and that cleared the code and no more smoke til a day later - today it starts fine and runs ever so slightly rough on idle but tons of white smoke that smells sweetish like burned coolant - took that plug out again and notice its slightly wet compared to the others - does this sound like the upper intake manifold cracking that Ive read about or head gasket or cracked head?
Many thanks, Lee
Monday, February 10th, 2014 AT 6:09 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
I'd suspect a leaking head gasket. Your mechanic can perform a chemical test to verify that. It involves drawing air from the radiator or reservoir, while the engine is running, through a glass cylinder with two chambers partially-filled with a special dark blue liquid. If combustion gases are present, the liquid will turn bright yellow.
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Monday, February 10th, 2014 AT 6:26 PM

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