I took my cutlass out last night and when I got home it seemed to be smoking a lot, but it was dark and couldn't really tell. Today when I got home I checked the oil and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I checked the coolant and it was down a half gallon and it usually doesn't go through coolant. I topped it off and started the car. I noticed it had a uneven sound when I was cranking it over-loss of compression in one or more cylinders? It was smoking, white smoke but not really unusual when cold. I took it around the block and when I got back it was smoking pretty bad. At first it was the drivers side only, but started to smoke out of both sides and was idling rough. There is a bit of smoke coming off the header on the drivers side, but I couldn't tell from where.

One of the plugs.
I didn't hear any unusual noise, so I'm hoping nothing in the bottom end. I checked the drivers side spark plugs and there wasn't any oil or unusual deposits. I'm thinking it's either a cracked head or blown head gasket, but the oil was not milky. The tailpipes are wet, but not oily. Any idea what might be wrong?

 

I'd start with a pressure test of the cooling system.

 

I’ve had a head gasket blow between compression and exhaust areas resulting in exactly what you are describing. I also had pressure in the cooling system.

 

Exactly. Look into that

 

there was enough pressure in the cooling system that when I loosened the radiator cap after driving it today, coolant sprayed everywhere.

 

how much pressure should there be?

 

It's not a matter of how much pressure, but rather how long the system can maintain it. If you get a value of 15 PSI and it slowly bleeds down you have a leak. At this point you can remove spark plugs and check for signs of moisture in the cylinders. If you need step-by-step guidance on how to do a pressure test, YouTube has a whole bunch of videos on the subject.

 

Oh, and probably too late to help this time, but don't loosen the rad cap on a hot engine. Let it cool first. Hope you didn't get burnt.

 

Yeah I should have been more specific. I took the radiator cap off when the motor was cold and not running. After I started it I had coolant surging out of the radiator. Not a steady spray but in cycles.

 

I knew it would do what it did. I slowly loosened it.

 

mine did the same when I added coolant before I took it around the block today. From what I have been reading, I am almost sure it's either the gasket or a cracked head. No oil contamination, so probably a failure between a cooling port and the combustion chamber. Hoping it isn't a cracked head not only for the cost of the replacement heads, but also availability. Speedmaster heads are estimated at earliest towards the end of April, and from what I have read here, Edelbrock probably won't make BBO heads anymore since their corporate takeover.

 

I would not run it anymore either. If you are getting enough water in the cylinders you take the chance of bending a rod. Also by the looks of that one plug you need to pull the head and clean and oil the cylinder wall asap so it doesn't get all pitted up.

 

If it will sit a while before being torn down, do your best to get any coolant out of the crankcase and cylinders.

 

yeah, I'm going to try to have it torn down ASAP.