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When I statred my car to come home from work this evening my car started very rough like it had a no spark on one cylinder. What happend next was worse it started puking tons of white smoke(filled the entire parking lot and across the street). I went ahead and drove it home about 2 miles hoping the smoke would subside, it did not(it almost went away though). I really suspect that one of my LIM gaskets took a crap. I was wondering is my engine a ticking bomb now? I have had new gaskets and every thing I need to replace them but was hoping to get it done when it gets warmer. Now I'm wondering is it worth the time or am I SOL?

Definitely sounds like a LIM failure. It's worth the time. You haven't driven that far, but don't drive any further. Drain all the coolant, and pull the plugs and turn the motor over to expel coolant from the engine. Do you at least have a garage that you can do the work in, maybe a space heater so it isn't so cold?

No not a LIM failure.

A head gasket failure.

Check the coolant level.

unfortunately I dont have a garage . I may be able to do it @ work in the rear bay but I have always been told nothing can stay over night. I would like to leave for a full24 hours after itis back together. The crappy part is I just paid off my loan yesterday.

Head gasket nooooooooooooooooo! but it was my first thought. the coolant in the radiator is full but it has sucked the overflow nearly dry. I always make sure it's filled to the cold line.

Could be HG, but it's very rare to see a HG failure on a 3800. Not impossible, just very uncommon. Based on your symptoms, however, it sounds like almost a 50/50 chance LIM/HG failure.

so if it's a 50/50 shot should go ahead and plan on tearing the the whole top end off? or would there be away to diagnose which it is?

I disagree that its a head gasket. It's so rare is not even worth mentioning, we have only seen like 2 head gasket failures in the years of this forum. Get those LIM gaskets changed and drain your oil immediately.

harofreak00 wrote:I disagree that its a head gasket. It's so rare is not even worth mentioning, we have only seen like 2 head gasket failures in the years of this forum. Get those LIM gaskets changed and drain your oil immediately.

After reading on both forums the last few years i was kind of thinking along the same lines(i just cant get past the fact that a HG could be the problem also). Other than basic TLC i'm a noob but still confident in my abillity to turn a wrench. I guess this would be an oportune time for a LIM replacement write up.

take it down to the LIM. if the LIM gasket failed, you will be able to tell. If it looks great (it won't) you could always take it down to the heads

Oh, and there already is a write-up in techinfo

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =53&t=3591

try smoke testing the engine and see if it is leaking near the injectors and on the corners,also check to see if there is some fluid around the corners or on the block.i had same issue with the smoke and missfire it was LIM.car runs fine ever since it was changed.

Whatever you do, get the coolant and (especially) the oil drained pronto; do not let it sit in there.

Coolant-in-oil + contact with bearings = very bad news.

The reason I called head gasket is the white smoke that he said was

it started puking tons of white smoke(filled the entire parking lot and across the street).

That does not sound like a LIM failure! The missing is another clue.

If the LIM fails, the coolant goes into the crankcase.

If the HG fails, the coolant goes into one or two of the cylinders and burns white.....clouds of it.
When the HG failed in my Jeep just last month, it did the same thing. I know it's rare on these engines but not impossible.

I agree with draining the oil immediately and tearing it down to the LIM.

He could pull the plugs and check them in the meantime.

if the coolant is leaking into one of the intake ports on the head then yes it will make smoke! Lots of it too.

Ahhh, I see, said the blind man.

Another good possibility. It's a slightly longer path than either on top of the LIM or into the lifter valley.

Drain the oil immediately and inspect the LIM is the correct beginning procedure.

Here is what Ive learned thismorning plugs #3 #5 are totally washed clean. There is a milky residue around the filler tube. The oil apears dark brown with no sign of coolant, although I know it is in there because of the way the filler tube looked. The rad has no visible coolant inside of it. The LIM gasket on the front bank is obviously bad inside and out there is a puddle of coolantt in the pocket behind injector #3 and on the rh side of the engine (looking at the front of the car) there is a trail of coolant down the block. the oil is out of the car and the coolant is coming out too, at least whats left.

Thanks for all the input guys!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my plugs are less than a month old. But they were obviously cleaner than #1.

The manifold is off!! The gaskets were crap. I will try to get some pics up tomorow. I did run into a problem with the retainers on the end of the fuel injectors two came out missing peices and one was totally gone. Are the injectors ok to use this way? I cleaned and prepped all of the gasket surfaces and made sure all the parts are in order. It all goes back together tomorow at least up to the fuel rail. Thanks for all the input and a special thanks to Bill Buttermore for the great write-up.

Yes, a few of mine were bad, just be VERY careful re-installing them. Mine got thrown away, and one got blown out, and we had to pull the rail, and put an old one back on.

I assume your talking about the o-rings getting blownout?

Yeah. It must've gotten caught on the lip of the head. Keep a close eye on them. Put the ones w/o rings on the front, easier to look at.

That is a good Idea, thanks.