unknown car trouble...again

the other day i was driving and took off and downshifted, as soon as i did, the heat went out and there was a lot of gray smoke coming out the exhaust, which after about a mile down the road turned into it coming from under the rear of the motor. found out the plastic hose connector from the radiator to the heater core came aloose and coolant was spilling on the exhaust hence the smoke. also found out that the water pump was leaking...bought the hose connector, and replaced the water pump, now about an hour ago i was flying down the freeway and got to my girl house and the car was running rough as hell, and stalling around corners. so i parked and noticed a lot of the same gray smoke coming out the pipes and revved it up a little and it cut off on me! WTF? i topped off the coolant bottle with some water and its still running rough and smoking from the pipes like crazy. anyone know what it could be now?

is there a ses light? can u describe better how it is running rough?

maybe you overheated the engine and blew the head gasket, so now you are getting antifreeze in places it is not supposed to be...

Albertj

yeah there is an ses light, and its rough like riding over a gravelly road the best way i can explain it...but its shuddering i should say, a rough shudder. i just came from outside and it wouldnt start again. my uncle/mechanic said it might be the starter dying on me, and couldnt explain the excess exhaust or shuddering.

as for the head gasket, that was my first guess but we eliminated that the other day when we found out that the connector hose had come off. it had similar symptoms to a head gasket but as soon as he looked at it he noticed the hose came off and as soon as he reconnected the new hose the car started up no problem

Intake manifold gasket leaking possibly?
You said you had smoke coming out the exhaust pipes, does it smell like burning anti-freeze?
Did the engine get very hot or overheat when you had the hose and water pump problem?
Ypu said you topped off the coolant overflow tank with water after this latest event. How low was it,
in other words are you loosing coolant now? If so, you need to find out if the engine is ingesting it.

the smoke from the exhaust smelled a little different from what it normally smells like, and i couldnt exactly pinpoint what it could be though. i had the water pump put on sunday evening and i hadnt topped the tank off with coolant, just water, so i think thats why it may have been low. i just now topped off both radiator and bottle. bottle was on E when i looked at it about an hour ago. i just checked the oil and its good, and i just had the oil changed saturday evening as well. if its leaking into the engine, could i drain the oil and refill it with fresh oil?

Sounds like possible bad spark plugs/wires? Maybe got soaked in coolant/ruined?

If the intake manifold gasket is leaking it could be leaking so as to provide a path for the anti-freeze to go right into a cylinder (combustion chamber) and get burned and pushed out with the exhaust. You may not necesarilly see it in the oil. If the gasket fails so that coolant can get past the intake ports and into the valley of the engine then you will see it in the oil. I've seen the gaskets fail such as it will allow coolant into the intake port and get burned but no coolant shows up in the oil.
It needs to be checked by someone who can tell the difference. And don't let it overheat as you can warp a cylinder head if it gets very hot. This is all assuming you have a coolant leak though. The 3800's are known for intake manifold gasket failures though. So be carefull with how you run it and don't let it overheat, get it checked out very soon.

Rereading the OP, I am a bit worried about intake gasket or head gasket issues - did you mean smoke was coming from Inside the exhaust pipes? Not just around the exhaust?

my uncle just took the spark plugs off and they were fried. i just had put autolite 104s in it and they were fouled. he said i need the platinum ones that are $6 a plug. WTF. Over. I WANT MY DAMN MONEY BACK! lol but im having my stepbrother look at it tomorrow or tonight and give his expert opinion because he is an actual licensed mechanic and is a 380 and northstar expert. only thing is, he doesnt work for cheap.

yeah he just cleaned off the plugs and they were dark as hell and fouled. he tried to clean off the fuel and reinstall them but he said i definitely need new plugs now because they might not have been the right ones for the car

Autolite 104's for a stock N/A 3800 would be too cold of a plug and would foul quickly. You can get the correct heat range plugs for your engine without going Platinum if you don't want to spend $$ on platinum. Just ask for the proper AC Delco plugs at the auto parts store. $1.50 to 2.00 max per plug.

Too many people say 104s are fine on any 3800. I have disagreed many times but nobody seems to listen.

Someone's listening now!!!

Rickw wrote:

Autolite 104's for a stock N/A 3800 would be too cold of a plug and would foul quickly. You can get the correct heat range plugs for your engine without going Platinum if you don't want to spend $$ on platinum. Just ask for the proper AC Delco plugs at the auto parts store. $1.50 to 2.00 max per plug.

..and thats EXACTLY what my uncle just told me. the plug was too cool and fouled and wasnt the correct type and to switch to an AC Delco Platinum or Double Platinum. he said they were like $6 a plug or something like that. what a way to find out. he took the plug out and we tried to start it but no luck..he siad he thinks its either the timing chain that made it foul or the crank positioning sensor. either way, his Turkey Day morning will be spent wrenching, and Ill be standing to the side watching

good luck man.
happy turkeys!!!

Just try putting the correct plugs in before you start messing with the other stuff.
Problem could have been just plugs fouled because they were the wrong heat range.

If you have to have a copper plug, you can put in an autolite 606, platinum AP606. I don't remember the delco numbers for this stuff, and if you look up the correct numbers they are odd because they call for the silly iridium plugs.

The autolite heat ranges go
606
605
104
getting colder towards the 104.

I ran AP605s for years and never had a problem, but again I'm S/C.

Rickw wrote:

Just try putting the correct plugs in before you start messing with the other stuff.
Problem could have been just plugs fouled because they were the wrong heat range.

yeah thats the first thing im going to do tomorrow. i already have to get a timing chain now

he jacked up my friday and part of my paycheck now and constantly wants to run to the crackhouse, if he didnt work for cheap id fire his ass.

"i already have to get a timing chain now"

WHY?

my uncle went and looked and the timing chain was bad. he said that it was the cause of the car not starting. it turns over but runs rough, and then when it cut off it wouldnt start back up. so he put a socket on the pulley or something at the crankshaft or something and the little opening where the oil goes in, when he turned it one way it moved and when it was tightened it wouldnt move back. he said it was too much slack in the chain and needed to be replaced. im going to have the spark plugs put in tonight and then if it starts im taking it to my brother for a diagnostic because im not paying $50 for a chain if its only plugs i needed

I would NOT replace the timing chain. I have yet to see one go bad on the 3800. Not at 88K miles anyway. Maybe at 250K.

yeah maybe at 250k.
with ur miles the timin chain would be a nice fix. the difference(in perfomance) would b night and day. but SHOULD and most likely is not ur problem

KillaKeninaRiv wrote:

he jacked up my friday and part of my paycheck now and constantly wants to run to the crackhouse, if he didnt work for cheap id fire his ass.

please be careful dealin w crackheads...
FROM MY OWN EXPERIANCE... "they only care about their next rock. they could give a shit less whats most important t u." signed, chris.... quote me on that. in my belief u shouldnt let that rock monster near ur car again.... im as strong as shintsu in my opinions tho i am not as verbal... for what its worth- there it is!