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**octaneman** · 05-23-2009, 10:35 PM

Hi patmcgroin

Q:The car was brought home running rough. It has since only been started once in 3 months with lots of smoke.. I wasn't there but was told it was white.\:Q

The Buick appears to have has a blown head gasket. If there was lots of white smoke then its a clear indication of it. You must perform a leak down test on all cylinders before you do anything. Check radiator coolant level and see if the engine has overheated at some point. If you cannot perform a leak down test, open the rad cap while having someone cranking the engine, ( make sure battery is fully charged, coils disconnected, pedal to the floor while cranking for maximum intake) and look for blow-by coming out of the radiator. If it shoots out the rad, the gasket or the cylinder heads are gone.

05-23-2009, 10:35 PM	#3 (permalink)
octaneman Mentor Home Support, Gearhead Automotive Center Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 564 OS: WINXP	Re: 98 Buick 3.8 Start Help Hi patmcgroin Q:The car was brought home running rough. It has since only been started once in 3 months with lots of smoke.. I wasn't there but was told it was white.\:Q The Buick appears to have has a blown head gasket. If there was lots of white smoke then its a clear indication of it. You must perform a leak down test on all cylinders before you do anything. Check radiator coolant level and see if the engine has overheated at some point. If you cannot perform a leak down test, open the rad cap while having someone cranking the engine, ( make sure battery is fully charged, coils disconnected, pedal to the floor while cranking for maximum intake) and look for blow-by coming out of the radiator. If it shoots out the rad, the gasket or the cylinder heads are gone.