Chrysler Repair: Stalled car, cylinder head gasket, 2001 chrysler concorde

Question
I test drove the car and it seemed fine (2001 Chrysler Concorde w/2/7l V6.)  On the way home, the oil light and check engine light came on during idle.  When I applied gas, the oil light went out.  I noticed the temp. gauge started climbing, oil light back on.  When I got to a stop sign, the engine stalled.  I was able to crank it up again, notice smoke coming from tailpipe. drove about another 1 1/2 mile, came to stop sign, car stalls again.  At this point I am unable to restart it.  I check under the hood and the antifreeze overflow is spewing antifreeze.  I let car cool down, try to start again and don't get any compression, more of a 'click'.

What could be wrong?

Thanks,

Jason

Answer
Hi Jason,
I am sorry to have to say that what you describe sounds and looks to be a cylinder head gasket on one of the two banks of cylinders is blown. That would explain the smoke (assuming that it was white (steam) in color and would also smell like antifreeze), and also the pressurization of the cooling system and the overheating. All of those are consistent with that diagnosis. One or more cylinders will not have compression so the engine will either crank more rapidly, or it won't crank at all if coolant has entered one or more of the cylinders and thus prevents the piston from compressing it. I don't know how long or far you drove the car since the test drive, but more than likely it was like this when you tested it, but you didn't go far enough to find out that the problem existed. These head gasket events don't happen very often so the odds of it happening just after the test drive are close to zero. I hope you can get some restitution. The repair will probably run in the $500-750 range, but that is a guess.
Let me know what you learn and how this works out for you.
Roland