got a 01 monte carlo ss 3.8 liter. have replaced starter and power steering pump and hasn't been running until today and started it and started putting 50/50 coolant in the radiator and car started smoking near the radiator but on the front side of the engine and thought it was oil so i kept putting coolant and water in it and then started smoking in the back side of the engine near the windshield wipers. so i turned the car off checked the oil and it was a light runny brown color and the dipstick was covered in it all the way to the stopper? and when it was running i noticed the exhaust pipes had white smoke coming out and alot of it. water in engine? and if so manifold gasket? and also hasn't been ran in about 40-50 days now so i have no idea what it could be any ideas would help me

 

Leaking cylinder head gasket or cracked cylinder head or bore. I would get another engine or rebuild with emphasis on getting better head gaskets. These engines have a problem with the head and lower manifold gaskets, from what I've read and heard. I'm replacing the LIM and head gaskets when I start my build since the current gaskets are the originals and I want to avoid the internal leakage problem. I hope you can find the problem and that it doesn't cost you a fortune, but to be safe I'd rebuild. Good luck!

 

I disagree with assuming it's a catastrophic failure! There's a VERY good chance it's just a shot lower intake manifold gasket. I've seen this happen to a ton of 3800s before- the owner assumes it's toast because it's leaking coolant everywhere, when it's just a bad lower intake manifold gasket.

Pull the manifold- replace the lower intake manifold gasket- seal it back up- compression test it- if it tests out OK, change your oil and you're OK!

 

According to who!? The head gaskets are fine on 3800s!

 

According to me. At the auto craft shop in Ft. Sill most of the cars with these engines and this problem specifically had blown head gaskets, mainly the front head gasket. A few had the LIM gasket leak, a monte and a couple of bonnies. Although these engines are notorious for bad intake gaskets, their head gaskets can blow as well. No engine is immune. The OP should have the engine pressure tested to verify/determine if the head gaskets are at fault before he starts to spend money and pull parts unnecessarily. If the compression test turns out healthy HGs then it would be time to inspect the LIM (which is cheaper to repair).

Head gasket are prone to failure on ANY engine, regardless of brand or best intentions, and will need engine tear down to repair it correctly. A combustion chamber leak in the cylinder head or block will leak coolant into the cylinder, diluting the oil on the cylinder walls and can damage the piston and rings. If the coolant contains silicates (conventional green antifreeze), it can also foul the oxygen sensor and catalytic converter.

Btw, if coolant shows in the engine oil it's almost a given that corrosion will affect the crank, bearings and other moving parts(not including the oil/coolant mess that needs to be clean and no amount of flush can get rid of). A coolant leak into the crankcase is also bad news because it can damage the bearings. I've not heard of an engine with that kind of a problem just have the gaskets replaced, whichever it turns out to be, change the oil and drive on. 99.9% of these engines require disassembling to clean up the mess inside. (which is the point I was trying to make)

 

Dude, no offense but you're way off here. Sure, headgaskets can go on any engine. They are NOT a weak point on 3800s. You were telling him to get a rebuilt engine (just wow) with better headgaskets (again, wtf) without any basic troubleshooting! There is a VERY good chance the lower intake manifold gasket is the only problem here, and YES, once repaired, an oil change will probably be enough to get many more miles out of the car. I've seen it plenty of times! So many dudes get great deals because someone with a bad LIM gasket thinks the car is toast and sells it for super cheap, then the buyer picks it up, performs a $50 repair, and has a clean car. I don't want the OP to be on the bad end of that situation.

 

Again, the OP needs to get his engine compression checked before anything gets done with the car. Best advice anyone can give him.

 

i agree to pressure check but i do recomend to to it being winter and all imedeatly change the oil so there will be no problems on the bottom end. what i mean rust forming and have sluge do to the coolent oil mix do damage to the bottom end. i would do an easy fix first to trouble shoot. then expect the worst. what i mean hope for the best and know it might be bad if it is the head gasket. pressure check it then go from there but first change the oil imedeatly do to coolent oil mix is always bad to let it sit in an engin no matter what engine

 

what i mean be safe than sorry you can rent that tool at auto zone or pepboys and check it your self

 

I really hope that the 2 or 3 flushes he's going to need to get the coolant out work for him but I've seen, and experienced, the dreaded blown HG/intake manifold leaks and most engines do not respond well to corrosive coolant lurking around the oil pan. Transmissions do not like coolant either, btw.