Water pouring out

[mshelby]

Got a 97 Grand Voyager.
Wife drove it without letting it "warm up" first.
She noticed a lot of white smoke comming out of it once she was about 3 miles from home. I drove it back home. No smoke blew out, but it did overheat so I shut if off, let it cool down and basically coasted it home!

Checked the fluids and the coolant was bone dry. (thus the overheating)

I added water to the radiator and saw/heard water pouring out from underneath the engine toward the back side.

Is this the water pump? ( I know the pump is on the LH side of the engine in the 3.0L model)

Or more likely have we craked the block or something?

The engine starts up and runs, and I really don't hear much noise, but it kind of "feels" like the engine is not getting all the compression it could.

[MT-2500]

Is the white smoke coming from engine area or tail pipe?
Any coolant in the oil?
Is this the 3.0 L engine? What is the mileage on it?
Have a closer look at it and find out where the coolant is leaking from?
Post back where the leak is.

[mshelby]

Thanks for the reply.
The white smoke came from the tail pipe, but didn't happen but just that one time. Yes this is the 3.0L engine with $130,000 miles. We have had a slight tapping noise in the engine (several mechanics assured me it was nothing to serious - just age) and it was beginning to use more oil. Also, I don't see any oil mixed with the coolant. Of course you all know that the engine sits in the body sideways and the water appears to be pouring out right at the firewall area (the lefthand side of the engine)

When I say "pouring out" I don't mean a drip or a trickle. I mean it pours out almost as fast as I pour it in the radiator.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by MT-2500

Is the white smoke coming from engine area or tail pipe?
Any coolant in the oil?
Is this the 3.0 L engine? What is the mileage on it?
Have a closer look at it and find out where the coolant is leaking from?
Post back where the leak is.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by mshelby

Thanks for the reply.
The white smoke came from the tail pipe, but didn't happen but just that one time. Yes this is the 3.0L engine with $130,000 miles. We have had a slight tapping noise in the engine (several mechanics assured me it was nothing to serious - just age) and it was beginning to use more oil. Also, I don't see any oil mixed with the coolant. Of course you all know that the engine sits in the body sideways and the water appears to be pouring out right at the firewall area (the lefthand side of the engine)

When I say "pouring out" I don't mean a drip or a trickle. I mean it pours out almost as fast as I pour it in the radiator.

Thanks.

The water pump is on the right side passanger side behind the timming belt.
It can leak and if the drain is stopped up it can run all of the way under the intake and come out the left side.
But remember there is a water pipe under the intake. and check where the rad hose goes in under the intake there is also a large O ring on the water pipe there. Another area they can leak.
Look both left and right ends over good
Getting hot may have damaged the head gaskets and may have not.
Good luck

[RIP]

Do a compression check and make sure it's in spec. If it's not you probably blew a gasket or cracked a cyclinder which would account for the white smoke. As for the leak, if it's not heater hoses (front or rear) or a pump, it could be a blown freeze plug in the block. I'm not familiar with the 3.0 but it might be worth asking about. Please let us know what fixed it. Too many don't!
By the way I've got a 96 GC with 180k on it. I never warm it up. It's a waste of gas plus oil will travel around the engine faster when the engine is under a load, as in rolling down the road under power. Your wife can breath easy.