Alot of White smoke

[Coast]

what is the best way to tell if a head is cracked without taking it off?
I had no heat and fluid was leaking out the weep hole in the bottom of the pump... I asked around about it and everyone told me the pump was shot. I went to get a pump and on my way back (even though i filled the rad that morning) my temp went from the usual 'OR' to 'AL' in a matter of minutes. I Pulled over and watched as my rad emptied from a crack along the seam that wasn't there b-4. I sat and waited for it to cool down when i heard cracking... I dont know where it came from but there were about 12 cracks in a row.
Sorry about the story but i had to describe what happened that caused me to change both the pump and rad. This help??

 

[oceanworker]

There are a few things that could have happened on your way to get a new water pump. If your engine got hot enough, the head gasket would be the first to go. If it got really hot, the head would warp.(which would mean you will need a need gasket and have to maching the head flat again. If it got really really hot the head would crack.
The most likely senario is that you blew your head gasket. The cooling system normally carries a pressure of about 17 psi. This can be checked at any shop (Ask for a cooling system pressure check)
But it may not show up on a cold engine. If the gasket failed between a cooling port and a cyclinder, pressure from the cyclinder (over 100 psi), or failed between a cooling port and an oil port (40-60psi), the increased pressure would transfer to your cooling system...hence blowing a few seams in your radiator.
Water in your oil is unlikely, but oil in your water is possible. Heat up the engine, then after it is safe (safe is the keyword here), siphon off some radiator fluid and let it sit for a while, and look for any oil.
Also run your engine , starting cold with the radiator cap off. Make sure you can see the level. The level will burp when the themostat opens (a few minutes) then the level should stay the same. If it keeps running out or burping, the head gasket is blown.
Installing a new gasket is not very difficult to do yourself. If you do it, take the head in, since you got it off, to a machine shop to check for any cracks (you probably wouldn't see them with the naked eye) and check for any warping. Good luck . Let us know what happens.

 

[Coast]

Well all, thank you all for your help! I went to a mechanic friend of my dads and we narrowed it down to either a cracked or warped head. Gasket is definately shot.

 

[Lemondrop]

Easiest way to check for crack/ blow head gasket is run the engine at idle . Take the hose off the radiator overflow tank (coolant resivior) and put it into a cup of (or plastic bottle) water . Run the engine till it's nice and hot to blow off any air that could be in the cooling system . Once then engine is hot there should be no air bubbles coming out of the overflow tube . If there is a bubble from time to time , let it warm up for a little while more . If it looks like a aircompressor is in your cooling system ..... your chit it busted . Your down to pulling the heads off after that unless you can figure out which one has failed . Only way to possibly do that is remove the spark plugs and pressurize the cylinder with air (froma compressor) and watch for bubbles out the overflow . I doubt youll find it that way as cracks like to leak more when hot . It sounds like you had a problem with your heads or gaskets for a while . The radiator failure was from compression in the cooling system if I had to even slightly had to guess . Most times when you have a compression in coolant problem every hose on the vehicle will suddenly start gfoing bad one rigfht after another . It is from the 12 to 17PSI normal going to 30 or more PSI from the failure .

 

[Coast]

The pressure in the rad was due to a bad thermostat and bad pump. I just replaced the rad, pump and thermostat.