Head gasket blown?

DrivenDaily said:

Looks very suspicious! What engine? Is it the 3100 (aka 3.1)?

Click to expand...

It's the 3100 SFI ...this is my brother's car ... it's had a history
of engine issues. If I remember correctly, it's been "rebuilt" by
"Thunderbolt" engines (one of those Houston engine rebuilders
with a shady reputation).

As I mentioned, the smoke billowing out the back is pure white
smoke ... I held a paper towel a couple of inches from the end
of the tailpipe for about a minute ... there was no evidence of
any moisture .... I pulled all plugs and none were "clean", so I'm
fairly certain the gasket is not broken from a water jacket to a
cylinder.

There is no evidence of coolant on the oil dipstick, but what I
see on the oil filler cap sure looks like a bad head gasket.

Any other thoughts besides the head gasket?

Is there a head gasket break from an oil galley passage into
the galley under the intake? I can't think of where the break
might be (?)

Len McRiddle said:

If coolant was being drawn into the cylinder, yes.

Click to expand...

My experience with blown head gaskets (or other) ... if water
is being drawn into the cylinder, the spark plug (the cylinder
in question) would be very "clean" (would look almost new)
because of the cleaning action of the water, along with
gas/combustion.

For example, my 64 Buick blew a head gasket not long ago
and was spewing steam out the exhaust ... pulled #1 plug
out and it looked almost new ... stuck a Q-tip down in the
cylinder and it came out wet (water/coolant).

All the plugs on this engine look sooty/slightly oily, which is
why I'm a bit perplexed ... what is the route the water is taking
to get into the oil ?