So I've been having this issue with smoke coming from the engine. And just recently I got this huge coolant leak. Of course it's overheating because of the lack of coolant, and the heat doesn't work. I took it to a shop where I get all my exhaust work done and all the told me was that it's leaking from somewhere under the intake manifold, and that it's not a hose or anything like that. I also noticed that when I was getting it towed to the shop, there was what looked like oil coming from my exhaust. Is that a blown head gasket or am I getting ahead of myself?

Also my brother's mechanic told me I'd be cheaper to just replace the motor than to just replace the gaskets. This is my first VQ so I'm still learning alot about it but I just thought I'd get some more opinions about it.

 

Need to check your oil for contamination, that's the first step, also a leak under the manifold? Seems odd but I would do some peeking under the hood to get a good look at things. Any white smoke from the exhaust? Has the car been driven while it was overheating?

 

That's one thing I haven't done yet. And I also thought it was odd that they would say that, but I haven't really done any looking other than to try spot the leak from underneath the car. There is white smoke. Once on my way home from a meet, and another time when I tried to get it to the shop for the first time.

 

Heavy white smoke?

 

No really heavy but noticable. Also the heat stopped working too.

 

Heater will stop anytime there's air in the coolant. Start with a compression, leakdown, and coolant pressure test.

 

Your mechanic is right about replacing the engine vs doing head gaskets if it comes to that. My son got a free BMW 323 from his now father in law, Problem was it had 220k miles on it. 6 weeks after he got it the head gasket blew. Was going to be something like $1800 to fix it. He ended up finding a motor with 67k miles on it and with installation, it was about $2400. Sure it was $600 more but he got a motor with 155k less miles on it. With a VQ35, you'll probably be looking at well under $2000 for a lower mileage engine and installation assuming you pay someone.

But make sure you need a head gasket first.

 

What are you guy's thoughts on head gasket sealer? Absolutely not or good for a temporary fix until I get a motor?

 

Waste of money and time.

 

When my son's head gasket first started leaking, my mechanic said he should get the Blue Devil head gasket sealer, it was the only one he knew of that works. It isn't meant to be permanent (but if used soon enough after symptoms appear it can be) but should buy you some time if you can't swap engines immediately.

 

Head gasket sealer is basically used so you can drive to the mechanics shop rather than paying for a tow truck. It is NOT a fix, it's a bandaid.

 

Touching back on what my mechanic said about the leak coming from somewhere under the intake manifold, I've been doing some looking around, and it sounds like the problem could also be a leaking intake manifold gasket. Most of the symptoms are very similar to a blown head gasket

 

Compression test and leakdown test time.