i was driving home last night from work when i looked in my rear view mirrow and saw a bunch of fog, but there wasn't any infront of me... so i switch lanes to see if it follows me and sure enough i did, also at this time i tried to turn my heater on b/c it was effing cold lst night but all that came out was cold air. so i get off of the interstate and i pull up to the first stop light on my way home and while in idle my rpms just suddenly drop to about 400 rpms and my oil light comes on, and it's choopping really bad. so i get to 2 stop lights down and while in idle it just cuts off, after i crank it back up i see the temp gauge start to creep up, so i pull around the corner onto my street and park, but not before my temp gauge hitting red line. the next morning i check all my fluids and my antifreeze was completely out (guess that explains the overheating) so i fill it and crank it up about 20 mins later to check it, seems to do fine, i took it around the block and pulled it back up, white smoke starts coming out again and it shuts off... im taking it to a mechanic today to figure out what the hell is going on, anybody know before i throw a bunch of money down the tube for something simple i can replace for 20bucks??????

 

sounds like maybe a headgasket to me?

 

thats what im afraid of.... also i forgot to mention, when i cranked it up thismorning and drove it around the block, when i got back my antifreeze was gone again and leakin pretty bad from the bottom of my car... but a simple leak wouldn't cause all those problems would it???

 

I dont think so... I honesty think its the headgasket though

 

Yea i would say headgasket too. If it was just a leak then your car wouldn't really be bogging or smoking badly.

 

Not necessarilly. If the antifreeze leaked out the bottom of the engine when he filled it I would venture a guess at it being a freeze plug gone bad or popped out on him. He may have more problems now due to overheating but it could be a head gasket or the freze protection plug.

 

The 420a is infamous for a bad headgasket. Normally they leek from the back drives side behind cyl 4, but in this case it sounds an alot like bad head gasket. If you still have it at home a quick way to check is by doing a compression check and if two consectuive cyl's lack compression its going to be a head gasket. Looks like you may have to do that rebuild with the motor out of the car. Also if you decide to just replace it make sure that you get the head checked for warpage.

 

Yeah definately check for head warpage. I thought about it but didn't put it in my last post... lol...

 

PHEWWWW (wipes sweat off forehead) it was a heater hose... i duno how but i took it to a mechanic, he said that was the problem, he fixed it and it runs great... im not complaining, thanks for the help guys

 

that would explain it.