hey my dads got a 99 park ave with a 3.8 non supercharged. it blows white smoke out of the exhaust but not all the time. its coolant because the overflow bottle gets low and the low coolant light comes on. do you think it might be the intake gaskets rather than the head gasket? how can you check the intake gasket?

 

The head gaskets are extremely rare to fail on any 3800. Regardless of mileage, if the intake gaskets are original, that is most likely the issue. I'd recomend changing the lower gaskets with the steel gaskets, and replacing the upper intake as well as the gaskets all at once.

check out www.rockauto.com they have the dorman kit for only $80 for the upper. And the steel gaskets for $52. couldnt find pic on their site, but got one in link below

steel gasket here http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...2293&ppt=C0026

 

hey thank you for your help. i will try that and see what happens! thanks