Driving and engine shut off and has huge clouds of white smoke

1999 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN
315,000 MILES • 5.7L • V8 • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
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JONES TESS AND JOE
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  • 56 POSTS
Left lights on. Battery died. Got battery jumped. Had to reset battery twice. Drove, truck won't accelerate very well. Acts like it's dogging. Not wanting to get up and go. Jumping acceleration and rpm's. Get driving down the expressway going 75, there was a bang and then a loud rattle and lots of white smoke. The truck stalled and wouldn't start back up. I had the truck towed. I have no clue what is wrong and need to get back to work. any help is greatly appreciated. All gauges are normal and no warning lights are on.i had checked all the fluids before I left. Even the coolant in the radiator.
May 11, 2020 at 9:58 AM
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KASEKENNY
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 18,907 POSTS
The large amount of white smoke clearly points to water/coolant in the exhaust.

The most likely cause of this is a head gasket. You add in the other issues and it sounds like you are losing compression. The easiest way to test for this is to test the cooling system for hydrocarbons. The guides below talk more about this. Even though the coolant is full doesn't mean it is not slowly leaking into the cylinders.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/white-smoke-or-steam-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Run through these and let us know what you find. Thanks
May 11, 2020 at 11:52 AM
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JONES TESS AND JOE
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  • 56 POSTS
It acted more like a misfiring fuel injector.
May 13, 2020 at 12:56 AM
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KASEKENNY
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 18,907 POSTS
So if this is an injector more then likely it would have dark smoke. White smoke is coolant. Plus for this to shut off, you would need most all the injectors to act up at the same time which is unlikely.

Plus there was a loud bang and a rattle, lots of white smoke and now it won't restart. If I were guessing, it sounds like a larger internal engine issue.

That is why I would start with a compression test or head gasket test.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression
May 13, 2020 at 12:24 PM
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