Ok, so I took my car to the repair shop a few days ago. I got it back today, and everything he said he fixed seemed to be the cause of what I've been experiencing (white smoke from hood - bad radiator, shaking while driving - bad strut) etc. I had to drive about 20 minutes downtown to guide my mom over so she could drop the truck off for my dad. I drove us 20 minutes back as well.

Before the repair, my wheel would vibrate, white smoke would come out the hood, and the temperature gauge would almost reach the red line. After the repair, for the first hour or so I drove it, the car worked perfectly. All the old problems I had were completely gone, and it honestly seemed like I was driving a completely different vehicle.

I drove to work just fine, clocked in, then got ready to do a delivery. As I started my car, I noticed an unusual vibrating (nothing like the vibrating it used to do. the car itself was vibrating back and forth, not the wheel), and then the check engine light starts flashing on and off. Then after a minute or so of driving, I see white smoke blowing in the wind. I got out of my car, and realized it was coming from the exhaust. I immediately turned around and parked my car. I was really scared and pissed off so I didn't have time to read the temp gauge, but before all this happened, it never went any higher than halfway. Also, after an hour or so, I opened the hood and checked on the radiator. I removed the cap, and didn't see any fluid in it at all.

What should I do? I mean, I don't really think it's right that I just got my car back from the mechanic and I have a new problem (I'm assuming a blown head gasket) nearly hours after picking it up.

 

yeah most likely a blown headgaskit from the state of that car im surprised it didn't happen sooner. i don't think you can blame the mechanic for your negligence. im guessing that the constant overheating has warped the head so just replacing the gaskit won't work.

 

It's only reached the red point once (I should have mentioned that earlier, it hasn't happened more than once), and even then, I didn't encounter any of these problems. Plus, I immediately pulled over once it got to that point, so I don't think that instance is the cause.

And also, I gave him a call and told him what happened, and he said he did a pressure test for a bad head gasket and it was fine.