My caravan is dying slowly. Please help

[RidiNThaChevy]

Hello to everybody reading this post. I am very new to the forums , i joined because i am having problems with my 1996 caravan 3.0L V6. So any advice or suggestions will be appreciated . This is my story , about six months ago the van started idleing funny almost like it wanted to stall out but it never did. I probably should have asked some questions then . OK so then about two months later i'm getting big clouds of white smoke whenever i give it gas . Ands its been running like this for three months . recencently the engine will not rotate when i attempt to start it , i just get a clicking noise some people have told me its my starter. And finally yesterday it lost power completely on the highway the radio stayed on the lights stayed on but no power from the engine i couldn't give it gas so i just coasted to the side of the highway. I got a ride back to the place on the highwaywhere my van was and attempted to start it. It started fine , the starter comes and goes, Anyhow it starts fine so i drive off , then a half mile down the highway it loses power again same thing that happened the day before. So i call Triple A and have it towed home. Its at my house now and just a little while ago i started it fine and just let it sit there idleing , not giving it any gas and it ran fine . It seems to only lose power when its in motion and you give it gas . And that's my story P.S. sorry for the long post but i wanted everyone to know everything .

[MrStupid]

I'm no expert so take this as you will. It sounds to me like you have atleast 2 things going wrong at the same time. 1st seems to be the starter and the 2nd sounds like you may have a blown head gasket, White smoke out the exhaust (especially white smoke that burns the eyes and nose) anyway thats my guess hope it helps, atleast its a place to start

[RIP]

Welcome to the forum. Ditto to MrStupid. Just want to add: make sure the battery and starter connections are clean and tight and the battery is good. Just because lights come on doesn't equal a good battery. Have it load tested at Autozone. It's free. They will test your starter too.

Signs of a blown headgasket are white vapor out the tailpipe (as stated) especially on acceleration, lack of power, having to constantly top off the coolant level. It may fail a compression test. Three months is way too long to let this go. You may have additional engine damage. If it is the headgasket, I'm shocked it has run this long.