blown Head gasket?

[gregsenne]

1998 Cavalier, 2.2L, 160,000 miles

About a month and a half ago, I had the thermostat replaced because it all of a sudden got hot (noticed it as soon as the red Check Gauges light came on and shut it off instantly, had it towed to the shop where they replaced the thermostat)

About a month ago, I tried to start my car, and the battery was almost dead, but was still cranking (wasn't to the point of the clicking noise). As soon as it fired, it backfired, through the intake. It shattered the plastic box that holds the air cleaner, and shot the air cleaner about 10 feet in the air (the hood was opened). But it started up fine after that and I thought nothing of it. Never happened again.

A week or so later, my temperature gauge started acting up (it would drop to cold then back up to normal temperature, randomly and very intermittently). I thought my temp sensor was going bad.

A day or two later, noticed the air not getting hot, and at the same time, the temp was going up to ALMOST red line, but stayed pretty constant right below it (when I could read it, sometimes it would drop to COLD then immediately back up to ALMOST red line).
So I drove it home. On the way home, the Low Coolant light came on.
So i stopped at AutoZone, and did a code read, and all it threw was Bad Temp Sensor. So I replaced the temp sesor (it was on the pass side, on the radiator metal tube that runs across the front of the engine, very close to the belt). That did not fix the problem (gauge still acts weird).
CEL code also threw Bank 1 sensor 2 (downstream O2 sensor), but that has been out for a year or two. It is not the O2 in the exhaust manifold, it is the one in the cat

So I filled it with coolant, and the low coolant light went off. Then I noticed, when the engine was warm, the exhaust looking white. It never looked white before, except when the engine was cold and it was cold outside (which I think is normal). it is not extremely bad, but enough where I noticed that it didn't look normal.

I cannot observe any coolant leaking anywhere. Exhaust seems wet, but this could be condensation, I'm not sure. It did have an antifreeze smell to it.
The oil looks GREAT. It is not milky at all.
Also noticed my radiator fan staying on constantly when the car warms up, instead of just occasionally turning on for a minute then turning back off.

Any ideas of what could be going on here?
I was thinking blown head gasket, but can I blow a head gasket and still not get any coolant in my oil?

Thanks for the help.

[MikeS144]

yep. you have a blown head gasket. When you temp gauge was reading high with no heat at the vents you had low coolant. You may have warped your head. Sounds like it is time for a tear down. sorry bro.

[MikeS144]

oh wow....sorry, old thread.

[gregsenne]

it ended up being a small crack in the radiator, and a bad wire to the temperature sensor. thanks for trying to help, even tho it was almost a year later....