SO im hoping a head-gasket blew, and thats all, long story short, i was in Lake tahoe(about 40 degrees), i let my car warm up for a about 5 min, as im driving away from the ski resort i hit a patch of black ice going up hill, the engine reved as i pressed the gas to not slide back or hit the snow bankment i don't think it hit the limiter or redlined even, maybe for 5-8 seconds it was reving high, then right after my check engine light started blinking, my car was idling really rough( 400-800 bouncing around) for about 10 seconds then it died, with white smoke coming out the rear smelling like oil.... my car is 98 monte with the 3.8 series 2 with 135k miles, i take great care of the car oil was fine, didn't over heat, enough coolant, it never dropped below 32 degrees for freezing. I know these engines are damn near bulletproof so im shocked if it blew, any guesses?
There was no smoke or anything abnormal coming form the engine as well, no noises it just died, when i try to start it now it won't even crank, lights dim, the engine siezed up

 

To check if the motor is siezed, put a wrench on the crank pulley and try to turn the engine clockwise. If you can turn the motor, then it is not siezed. It may be a little tough to turn the motor over, due to the compression in the engine. If you can't move the engine at all then its probably sized.

 

seized - / If you can turn the motor, then it is not siezed.

sized- / If you can move the engine at all then its probably sized

what????

 

Oops, forgot my nt in can't. It should now make sense.

 

ok seawolf18, that kinda threw me for a loop for a minute?

 

White smoke is usually coolant or water of some sort. Of course if it was just a light blue then it was probably oil.

I see you said the oil, coolant and all was fine. Did you look afterwards? See if the oil is milky or cloudy. Did you check the tranny fluid? It's not very common and don't know if it can even happen on the 3.8L but I've heard of it getting sucked into the engine somehow, but when that happens the smoke is so bad that you can't see out your rear window.

 

I was thinking along these lines too...especially since he was spinning like crazy, and the differential (in the transmission) is the weakest point in our driveline.

OP, the advice already given to you in this thread is very good. I'd also perform a compression test on the motor- it's a very easy procedure. Pick up a compression test gauge at your local autoparts store and follow the instructions.

Let us know your findings.

 

I can't imagine why your engine wouls sieze just from reving high for a couple seconds. Especially if you didn't even redline it. Plus these cars have Rev-limiters.

I would guess a gasket of some sort blew, or like others have mentioned, you did some tranny damage.

 

I don't know about the 3.8 but I'm sure with it's history it's tougher than my 3.9 and I've pinned mine at the limiter several times, even going over once or twice. So if it was the revving that did it then there was something else wrong to start with.

 

Mine has scene redline ummmm....IDK a million times since I bought it. LOL. I've also had it screaming over mountain passes at 5,000+ RPM (115 degrees outside) while I was doing large passes going up hill...The temp gauge never moved a spec.