White90Birdo

Sooo....my new baby, my shiny white, 53k miles '90 Firebird has been giving me some guff lately. I think. Disclaimer: Birdo represents a jump from straight from computer programming to the black box that is the mechanical field. So please forgive the inevitable newb question(s).

I got my Firebird about three months ago. Had to drive about 100 miles to get it, but it was the cleanest-no-ding-anywhere-not-a-speck-of-rust Firebird I'd found in two months of hunting. Came with the usual "one owner who really took care of it" story that I'd heard a few times before. At the time I had no reason (read as ability) to doubt it. My mechanical skills were such that if you opened the hood I could tell you if the engine was there or not, and that's about it. Started up fine with that throaty V8 growl, ran smooth, sounded fine. Solid, right? It was a pretty hot day so on the way home I flicked on the AC. After 10 minutes I happened to glance at the temp and it was almost in the red. AC off and it cooled down pretty quick. That was a long, hot ride home. When I got home I finally noticed that the coolant was all rusty looking and really low, about around the cool level even after the long drive.

I took it to a garage that weekend for an initial tune up and all that, and I specifically mentioned the AC issue. After a while they came out and said that they had flushed the coolant and put in some fresh stuff (green, I believe) and then took it for a spin to get the AC to overheat. When they came back the coolant was all nasty brown again. So they did a 2nd flushn' fill, and off I went. I didn't drive a whole lot that week, but the following weekend I checked the coolant, and again it was low and rusty. This was after sitting in my garage all night. No coolant puddles on the floor at all, and it doesn't smell like oil or gas. Painty, almost fishy smelling, which I guess is normal. No leaks from the hose connecting the coolant tank to the radiator, and on the other side nothing from the hose connecting the radiator to the engine on the radiator side, but a small drip near the end connecting to the engine. About as much drip as the amount of toothpaste you'd use in one go. Oil is fine, looks like regular old oil. Not milky at all. Radiator is full to the cap, but with the same nasty looking crap that populates the coolant tank. And every now and then I get a puff of white when I start up cold. Goes away after the initial startup, not like I'm rolling coal on the neighbors or anything.

Any ideas? I hate to think a head gasket's about to go. I was going to put some more coolant in the tank and see if it disappears without being driven, and if it passes that test drive it a bit and see what happens.

NowhereFast

If that's the hose with the drip is the one that goes to the bottom of the radiator is the one you're talking about, then the water pump is 100% leaking. The leak may have been there for a while. Being that the car has such low mileage, I would expect that it sat a lot. A low cooling system, or one that has been topped off with water because it's leaking, will develop quite a bit of rust, and it may take several flushes to get it all out.

Fix the water pump to start. White box pumps from an auto parts store are as good as any, and should cost you <$50. Change the thermostat with it, as rust can clog those things up big time. Then re-evaluate it. Make sure the secondary cooling fan is coming on with the A/C. Also make sure the air deflector underneath the car is intact.

The smoke is most likely dried out valve seals, super common on an old sbc. I wouldn't worry about it as of now.