Had a somewhat similar sitch. Couldn't tell if it was hg or exh gasket. Used a feather to find escaping air, still not precise enough. Replaced exh man gasket, still had leak. So, it turned out mine was exterior hg leak. Sounded like a friggin train. Maybe try the exh gasket first, fairly inexpensive and easier than the hg job. Just be careful on those bolts, they're easy to snap.

 

And is it safe to drive for another month before replacing? It's my only vehicle and I need it for work until school starts.

 

Yea I tried doing that with a rolled up piece of paper multiple times and it didn't really clear things up because it was right in around the head gasket and exhaust manifold and exhaust gasket.

 

not for me to say. I'll tell you this though, mine blew in Jacksonville, FL on a drive from Fort Lauderdale to DC. Drove it the whole way, towing a trailer. Then it was 2 or 3 months til I finally got the hg job done. Kept an eye on fluids and temps, never had any issues., cept when it first blew, lost some oil and coolant. Tough engines.

 

Well I made it to grandpas and as soon as I hit the dirt road I thought man I need to keep this thing.

 

 

Sweet!

 

You situation is the same as mine, my head gasket was blown from the cylinder to the outside would, bought the disco that way for $1000, when it was blown it sounded like an old tractor, and I had a cylinder 5 misfire code. I have heard that running it like that too long CSI scar the block, but mine was fine, so not sure if that is true or not. Once the head gasket was changed, the code never came back, but then again I did the coils, plugs and wires when I did the head gasket

 

My 2 cents are to check the lower manifold connection to the catilitic (sp?) converter pipes on both sides, and manifold connection to the engine. Maybe a manifold has rusted through, but by the way you describe the sound a hole should be easy to find. Also, a sure way to determine a blown head gasket is by how much (if any) coolant you are loosing. The gasket seals the coolant path between the head and engine body. Point is if you have a blown head gasket, you will be loosing noticable amounts of coolant.

 

Twice I stopped at a light and got a cloud of white smoke (not too thick, but very noticeable) coming from the engine. They were both hot days like 90+ degrees. What gets me is it didn't smell like coolant, smelled like a burning clutch (not suggesting it is just relating the smell). Engine overheating? Temp guage works and says its good but I've seen people with digital readers say those gauges don't mean ****. Will get it diagnosed professionally when I can but nearest dealer is an hour away and it won't make it that far I don't think.