Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: 89 Cutlass Ciera - Trouble starting/very rough, 89 cutlass ciera, vacuum seal

Question
My 89 Cutlass Ciera was in the shop last week to get the brakes replaced and while it was in, they found a leak in the hose between the transmission and the radiator and another in the power steering. Both hoses have been replaced.

It drove just fine for about 4 days after being worked on, then on Sunday when I went to start it up (I didn't drive it at all on Saturday), it either kept dying immediately or ran very rough for a minute or two, then died. If I applied pressure to the gas, I got white exhaust but it would keep running and was a little smoother. After a few minutes of coaxing, I got it to stay running and to idle properly. It ran fine for the rest of the day. Same thing happened Monday and Tuesday mornings - took about 10 minutes to get it to keep running, but once it did, it was fine for the rest of the day. This morning it took about 15 minutes to get it to run and this time something was smoking under the car. I *think* the smoking substance was transmission fluid that had leaked onto the gravel under the car prior to that hose being replaced and it overheated due to me keeping the engined revved while idling.

The guys here in the office think the problem may be that some gunk got caught in my fuel filter when the vacuum seal was broken while the transmission was being worked on. They suggested replacing the fuel filter. I'm planning to do that, but wondered if you might have further insight.

Thanks,
Melissa

Answer
hi melissa,hmmmm well ,i hate to say it but the guys at the office have misinformed you,but don,t be too hard on them they were trying to help.the transmission and the fuel system are not connected at all so repairs to one or the other would have no relavence on the other. but they are exactly right about it possibly being a fuel filter.i would go on with that plan.but getting back to the white smoke if white smoke and below freezing temp maybe no prob,but if white smoke at normal eng temps say 185 degrees.this is antifreeze burning in a cylinder.and if the eng is burning antifreeze the eng will not run good when cold ,but once the anti freeze is burned off the plugs it would run ok .but most likely would overheat.  sorry melissa but good possibility of head gaskets .which is a pretty pricey ordeal.to find this out you need to go back to y