Today on the way home from work my car started smoking a lot. It smoked the most when I shifted. I just got a new radiator and switched to 30SAE oil because I was told if I had bad valve seals this would stop the smoking. The smoking had stopped for a few days and now this. It smells like oil when I'm driving, but when I get out of the car after shutting it off it smells like coolant, also it has started to leak oil. Is this a bad head gasket? If so, will I be able to replace it myself?

is the oil synthetic?

no it's Valvoline Maxlife. I have to high of mileage to run synthetic.

the viscosity of the oil doesnt care how old your engine is it cares that there is food on the table when it gets home, and that it will live another day to love its family.

Black smoke while boosting=turbo going out, something other than a head gasket.

White smoke after car is warmed up=head gasket

Also after driving for awhile, check your overflow bottle. If there is coolant bubbling in it, then there is a good chance you head gasket went. However if you car doesn't do that and isn't overheating, I would doubt it would be the head gasket.

CRAIG

The smoke is white and my car overheated yesterday. I thought it was because my fan died but that could be too.

My car is also blowing out smoke. My co-workers said that it was black smoke, but I see whitish blue smoke. If my car sits for a few mins and I start her up, it blows a chunk of that whitish blue smoke out and then it stops until I go WOT. Oh yeah, the smoke comes out all through first gear (when at WOT), but only a little chunk blows out in second and thats it. Anyone know what the problem is? I was told it was the head gasket, but I dont know.

Actually black smoke under boost means you are running rich, like most DSM's.

Blue smoke under boost, that is a different story.

Blue smoke black smoke, whats the difference? I was talking about a lot of smoke, not the normal catless exhaust on a turbo car though. Your right though, yeah it would be kinda blue I guess notw that I think about it.
CRAIG

Black smoke=too rich
Blue smoke=oil leaking into the cylinders(turbo, valve guides or rings)
White smoke=blown headgasket or cracked head
Some smoke with a funny smell=your car was made in Jamaica, mon. ;)

I have a cracked valve cover, would that contribute to any smoke at all? I'm hoping I'm blowing black smoke under boost, its safer and better than that blue smoke. My car sometimes blow out smoke that smells really weird, but I'm guessing its from the straight pipe. I dont know though, I could be wrong.

Alright I've figured out it's probably not a head gasket.

The smoke is blue and it comes out in huge puffs whenever I boost. This morning when the car was cold and I started driving it I had no boost at all and there was no smoke at all, but once it warmed up I had full and it started smoking again. It did the same thing when I left work. Also two bolts to my exhaust manifold are broken and not connected, which hasn't been a problem. But there is oil around where the mani connects to the head.

Any ideas?