I’m trying to diagnose an issue with my cars engine and trying to find the root of the problem. Some of the symptoms my car is experiencing includes:

- coolant temperature is hot
- smoke coming out of exhaust
- engine overheats
- shaky engine but smooths when accelerating
- code p0301 cylinder 1 misfire

Anyone have any suggestions on what the root of the problem is? I’m assuming a blown head gasket cause the overheated engine probably warped my cylinder head but I’d like to know what caused the overheating of the engine. Also, I don’t notice any coolant leak on the ground. Any recommendations on what I should do moving forward would be greatly appreciated!

I drive a 2005 Monte Carlo LS with a 3.4 v6 engine

 

sounds like a head gasket leaking into cylinder 1. the coolant gets combusted, don't expect any to come out the tailpipe.

Time to replace the gasket, as it won't get any better only worse. It'll damage your engine more if you keep driving on it

 

As for what caused the engine to overheat , here are a few ideas. The radiator is usually the first thing that comes to mind. When was the last coolant flush ? Eventually the radiator gets plugged not necessarily completely but it looses flow over time, car being 14ish years old. It happens a lot with heater cores also that why people remove both hoses and back flush the heater core. Also keep in mind age of all the other parts and gaskets. It does sound like a cylinder head problem too me. Job isn't super difficult but does take a lot of time and figure on head issues (cracked,warped) or cost of set of reman's. And option be is swapping the engine which usually can be found pretty cheap and plentiful used. Good luck