99 Windstar- going through coolant

[Mom2boyzz]

Hi guys!

So... continuing problems with the Windstar... Shocking, I know!

I'm going through TONS of coolant...
Thinking it was the head gasket, we did an oil change & tested the oil to see if there was coolant in there... No coolant in the oil.. oil was ok.


NOW...
I've got white smoke when I start it up in the morning (not all the time, only when started up cold when it's been sitting all night)
It's also dripping from the exhaust pipe... quite a bit too.. there's a good puddle under the tailpipe & you can see it drip every 2 seconds or so.

We put some Bars stop leak stuff in there last night, it says on the can it can plug head gasket leaks & cracked blocks...

Now, since the van is a 99 and has 174,000km on it, I'm looking for a replacement, as I can't go more than a month or two anymore without a problem.

My question primarily is....
Will this Bars stop leak stuff help solve the problem, at least for a little while?
Is this for sure a cracked block... is there a way to find out exactly what it is without spending much more $, or ripping it apart

How much time do I have before it will quit, if at all?

Thanks again for all your help, you guys have been great!!

[12Ounce]

Normally the leaks are something other than blocks and head gaskets ... if you are sure that the coolant is making its way into the exhaust, I would suspect the lower intake gaskets and seals ... they can be very difficult to get "right". Took me a couple of times.

But it is a dangerous situation ... if you get enough coolant into a cyl, this can leak to locking up a piston and destroying the engine.