yesturday, i was driving home from work and it was running real rough. like it was only running on 3 cylinders. then i stopped at a friends house to see if i could diagnose what was wrong (at this time there were clouds of smoke litterally billowing out of the exauhst. the smoke smelled like burnig coolant, oil, and a burning plastic or rubber smell. i shut the car off and let it cool down for a bit. when i started it back up there was no smoke and it was running fine. i was suspicious so i waited untill the engine got warmer. the wamer it got, the more smoke would pour out of it. i also noticed the liquid coolant was spitting out of the exauhst as well. and by the time i got home i had no coolant in the exp. tank and it was just about over heating. i have feared that i have a cracked head for a while, but now it looks fatal if i don't stop driving it... i need to know what you guys think about this situation and what i should do about it.
thanks

Lets hope its just a head gasket. Take the head off, and u'll see what's next.

well you.ve known about the problem for a while and havn't fixed it so why worry now, may be it WILL fix its self! Keep driving it. Then instead of couple hundred dollar job it can be a thousand dollar job. Good luck and please don't mind my sarcasm

no prob dude...
believe me, i would have fixed it quick. but the funds were insuficiant and it was my on;y way to get to work (i live about ten miles out of town). so, now i am working on another car to get me to work and back while i overhaul the head assembly. by the way... does n/e 1 know an easy way to remove a mitsubishi 4x4 transaxle? thanx
P.S. don't worry about the sarcasm man.

Go to the used bookstore, I'm sure there are some Haynes manuals for mitsu's there. Or you could go ask in the Mitsubishi forums. Just a thought.

Be optimistic,, check your oil cooler seals, if the seals go bad you'll mix water and oil without blowing a head gasket.