Ok I happened to be driving along and my car was making a weird noise and my thermostat light came on and i opened my hood and it was smoking and the coolant in my coolant resevoir was boiling like it was on top of a stove. I drove maybe 10 more miles and it was making a weird noise, And then I had the pedal flat to the floor and it was going slower and slower and then finally there was a big bang and then it stalled, I tried to start it back up but it would only crank. And it wouldn't start. I got it towed home and my Uncle said that something was leaking out of the 6th cylinder, Now as far as I know, Either the head cylinder needs to be shaved or it's cracked, I know I need a head gasket, intake manifold and a valve cover, But can someone please pin point the main problem??? I don't have a ton of money to pour into it, Email me at Heckman_R@msn.com. Thank you, It's an 85 Camaro 2.8, V6, 4 Spd Overdrive

 

This whole situation does not sound good. Driving after the Temp light comes on can only mean trouble. I have had my car do the boil thing cause the Rad Leaked out the fluid and I had to get more... but I never drove it too hot. I am scared to find out what this is, but leaking from the 6th cylinder

Has it turned over and started since the BIG BANG? Or are you just hoping when your done replacing the head gaskets and such it will?

 

It never started back up, My uncle is good with cars and he said the head probably needs to be shaved, Nothing leaked outta my radiator, My heater core went and my uncle said that head gasket was pushed all the back to the 6th cylinder and that's why it's leaking

 

When a car is way ove heated it can cause detonation and blow the hell out of the head gasket and other prob's. I would look into what is causing it not to start before you go spending money on parts. If it is a major problem you may not want or have enough money to fix it.

When you try to start it are there any wierd noises?

 

Well I would pull the intake, heads and look at the block surface. You have to gank the heads anyway. NEVER JUST REPLACE 1 HEAD GASKET, REPLACE BOTH!. I am affaid to ask but have you looked at the plug?(If you can get it out) I would not be surprised if you blew a hole in the top of the piston driving it over heated like that!. When the Idiot light or the temp guage goes to the red TURN OFF THE ENGINE AND LET IT COOL DOWN!. I had my thermostat housing break on me one time and it took me almost an hour to get to work cause I could only drive maybe 5 miles at a time!(Before stopping for 15 minutes and adding a gallon of water).

 

It didn't make any weird noises, I did let it sit for 15 minutes b4 I drove that other 10 miles. My Check Engine light was on for about 3 weeks b4 this happened.

 

blown head gaket, sounds vaguely familiar..

Something like this happened to my studebaker I owned a while back. had a shopp do a valve job, & the bastards never retorqued the heads. the bolts were loose & let the exhaust super heat the coolant. ran like crap. I sold the damn thing & 1 week later the guy I sold it too told me what happened

 

Drain the oil too. That would give you some more information on possible damages. Pay close attention to if theres metal particles in it, how big are the particles and what type of metal it is.

I'm willing to bet that whatever the actual problem is it didn't start in the head. The combination of overheating and extreme loss of power indicates severe internal friction as a possibility, and your comment about "a big bang then it stalled" only reinforces that thinking. Camaro_Hunter is on the right track, but I'm more inclined to be looking at the rods and/or rod bearings. Finding a rod cap laying in the oil pan is a possibility. It's entirely possible that you broke a rod and tossed the piston and the rest of the rod up into the head causing the you to look at the head as the problem.

Hopefully you only blew a head gasket but look into other things before you decide what happened, head gaskets don't go "bang".