my taurus blows white smoke

[Arizona_928]

my mom's 94' 3.8l taurus is blowing white smoke from the tail pipe. so i tought bad head gasket; checked the oil for milkshake but only thing in their is really dirty oil.
what else should i look for, without doing a compression test or leak down.?

[rally 944]

look to see if the radiator or overflow bottle is low on coolant. if it is your chances are pretty good for having a blown head gasket. they don't always mix with the oil, sometimes just into the cyl. other times just externally. the definite way to check is have it block checked, the auto part store should sell them. it has a liquid in it that reacts with co2 and changes color. if your headgasket is blown it will get into your coolant and react.

Todd

[m21sniper]

3.8s are known for bad head gaskets, it is a very common problem in 3.8s. Besides, blowing white smoke screams "head gasket." Just check to see if the coolant is low. If it is...you know where it's going. Out the tailpipe. But then, the thick white smoke already tells you that.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

3.8s are known for bad head gaskets, it is a very common problem in 3.8s. Besides, blowing white smoke screams "head gasket." Just check to see if the coolant is low. If it is...you know where it's going. Out the tailpipe. But then, the thick white smoke already tells you that.

yea the 3.8 they recalled....... for bad head gaskets!!
yet when you call ford they say "what recall"

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If the white smoke smells sweet, it's coolant. Chances are very high that it's a bad head gasket, though there may be a few other places where water can get into the exhaust or the combustion chambers.

--DD