do i have a bad head gasket and battery?

115

Asked by ahunter41 Oct 26, 2013 at 08:21 AM about the Pontiac Grand Prix

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

i have my 98 grand prix gt. if i hook up jumper cables to my other car i can get it to
start and it stays running after i remove them. as it runs it begins to blow white smoke
out of the exhaust and a little runs up the front of the motor. after a while the car will
stall. i believe this is a problem caused by my head gasket leaking oil into my
cylinders.

also once i turn the car off and try to re-start it i have dim lights and motor will not turn
over. this tells me battery.

i just want to verify these issues before i buy parts. thank you all for your help.

12 Answers

well there are some "knock-off" labels indicating the date of the batteries first charge~ if older than five should replace THIS battery...you could unscrew a sparkplug to check for wetness...in fact all of them until you can narrow it down which cylinder is takin' on coolant....then replace the headgasket...if the headgasket looks okay...sadly am going to have to suggest a cracked block~

2 people found this helpful.
201,435

I agree with judge about the battery. Is this car a daily driver or has it been sitting for a long time?

2 people found this helpful.
115

Thank you judge and the car has been sitting for about 4 months

2 people found this helpful.
201,435

Ok. With it having sit for so long you could just have condensation built up in the exhaust and that will cause white smoke until it is all evaporated away. But be sure to check your coolant for oil and your oil for coolant tho just in case it is a blown head gasket.

2 people found this helpful.

coolant in the oil...makin' it look like turkey gravy and froth in the coolant (from oil) are a few warning signs~

3 people found this helpful.
115

thank you. i didn't even think of intake gaskets. but per the above, the oil and coolant mixtures do resemble the grayish brown of "turkey gravy". so will a intake gasket mix oil with coolant or is that only the head gasket or cracked block?

2 people found this helpful.
115

is there way to tell which one it is before i replace both or is it better to replace both?

2 people found this helpful.

08016....are you near Cambridge, Jim? close to home base where Henry_S works there....my only connection to guru's management~...oh yes Lisa too~

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