2001 Grand Am GT Help!!

[jnohl1231]

Hello. I am new to the forum but looking for a little input on my Grand Am. I have a 2001 GT with 118,000 miles. I have owned it for the last 11,000. So far I have not had any issues but my service engine soon light just came on. I had it ran at a local auto parts store and the code was cylinder 6 misfire. It has been on for roughly 2 weeks. In the beginning I did not notice any changes in the vehicle but now it seems to be running rough at idle and very low speeds. Also the coolant has been leaking somewhere. I have not seen any on the ground but I have had to fill it 3 times in the last 2 weeks. From reading info I am becoming very worried about a possible intake gasket failure. Are these the common symptoms? I am very worried that I have not seen any coolant leaking, it really makes me think it must be going into the engine. I pulled the dipstick and my oil level is not high and I cant really see a difference in its appearance. Is there a good way to check whether or not it is leaking into the oil? I really would like to be able to do as much as I can or all of this by myself as I really cant afford to bring it to a shop and let them start replacing parts.
Any input on what might be wrong or where I should go from here would be great. Oh and also even though the coolant has been running low I have had no issues with the engine overheating.
Thanks for any help guys, glad I found a forum full of other grand am owners!!
Jake

 

[melsg5]

if you are loosing coolant and dont see a leak, first pressure test the cooling system to see if it shows a problem. Do you notice a lot of white smoke coming out the tail pipe?

 

[jnohl1231]

I have noticed some white smoke coming from the tail pipe but not an excessive amount. I had noticed it about a week ago or so and I kinda just attributed it to the fact that it is getting colder around here. (I live in Mn.) Would that be another sign of the blown intake gasket?

 

[melsg5]

excessive white smoke is burning antifreeze

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[Zimgxp]

The oil will turn milky if there is coolant in it. It may not be getting into the oil at this point. Pull the radiator cap, if it is bubbling with the engine running, you may have a head gasket issue. A check for hydrocarbons in the radiator will tell you for sure.

 

[jnohl1231]

Had it taken into the shop today. Intake gasket is leaking and the head gasket is blown also. Dont understand...it ran fine up until two weeks ago. Never low on coolant, never overheated, never ran rough. Damn Grand AM!

 

[Zimgxp]

Unfortunatly, lower intake gaskets are a common problem with the 3.1 and 3.4 engines.