2000 Pontiac Grand Am - No Heat & Coolant Leak?

[Demetrius T]

My problem is that I would fill up the antifreeze tank to where its suppose to be and after about a hour of driving there would be no coolant inside. The temp. gauge goes to 200 but it takes very long to reach that point even while driving on the freeway. While driving I have a little heat but while idling there is no heat. Just cool air. I tried to see if I could find a leak somewhere but was unable to find it. But today, after driving for awhile I lifted the hood and there was white smoke coming from the back of the engine. It smelled like coolant so I checked to see where the leak was and can't find it. There is white smoke coming from the tail pipe but it is cold outside so I really can't tell if that's normal or not.

I checked the heater core and its not that. What I thought one problem was is my thermostat is stuck open and that's why I don't have very much heat. But the leaking problem I have no clue.

Any Ideas would be great...

 

[J Wikoff]

It really sounds like you've got a failed lower intake manifold gasket or head gasket. Common signs are coolant loss with no external leaks, and white smoke in the exhaust (beyond a cold engine in cold weather).

Check your oil with the dipstick and under the oil fill cap. If it looks like a milkshake, change it immediately. The coolant mixing in the oil will destroy the bearings.

A compression check may show you if it's a head gasket or not. What engine do you have?

 

[J Wikoff]

Looking at this pic... if you've got a 3.4l V6, a leaking LIM gasket isn't likely to dump coolant into the intake as much as it is likely to dump it into the lifter valley. I'd suspect a head gasket.