Clouds of smoke! Help

[Shaggs2Dope]

i was driving.... speeding and my car filled with smoke . i realized it was coolant after i poped the hood because it was EVERYWHERE.... i mean EVERYWHERE. i started the car again and saw it dripping from behind the motor but i cant tell exactly where its coming from. Starting from as soon as my car filled with smoke untill i shut the car off the coolant was all gone. (4min period) any suggestions?

1987 formula firebird 350 5.7 tpi

[MarkFL]

sounds like a leak to me.

LOL, sorry...saw the username and had to respond.

"down with the clowns, 'til I'm dead in the ground."

[Knucklehead]

Heater core

Sure sounds like your heater core blew. It's in the box behind the dash. You can cut it out of the system by disconnecting the two heater hoses where they attach to the heater core, right at the firewall on the passenger side. Remove one of the hoses and attach the free end of the other one to make a loop. If you need heat, you're gonna hafta replace the heater core, which requires the removal of most of the dashboard. Good luck.

[thenuge876]

Check your hoses and things to see if one of them might have blown too, how many miles are on the car, it could be the heater core, but generally when they go, it dumps coolant onto the passengers side floor of your car, thats what happened to me anyway. See if you can track down where a leak is coming from...then you'll have your answer, im sure somebody here will have tips on that..

[00 Ragtop Z]

I agree with thenuge876. The heater core would given you a smelly, wet mess on the passenger saide carpet, but not teeh smoke--which indicates that something under the hood gave out. Could be a hose, could be a water pump or water pump seal, could be a head gasket. If you were punishing your camaro before it happended, I might look at the head gaskets as a strong possibility..

[Joe 1320]

To add to the list, it could also be an expansion plug. I've had one of those rust/give out. Check for water in the oil. If that's OK, refill the cooling system and do a cold pressure check using a cooling system pressure testor available on loan from Autozone. It's a handy device that allows you to check for leaks without starting the engine or dealing with hot fluids. Pressurize the system and crawl all over the engine and heater box.

[Shaggs2Dope]

well i havent check the car out yet. it died and i just left it at my gf house. but thanks for the suggestions ill see what i can do. and the car has 107,000 miles on it..
when i bought the car it only had 90,000 miles and only cost $200!

[00 Ragtop Z]

if it 'died', then I'd say you blew a head gasket and hopefully you didn't overheat it so much it seized--that's a verrry bad thing

[Shaggs2Dope]

I figured it out! it was a coolant line to the heatercore that gave out.