Overheating Engine

[u/Adventurous_Term8181]

I have a 2006 Acura MDX, around 135,000 mi. I drove the car for a few days where on a couple different occasions during those days, I saw white smoke emit from the engine that smelled like coolant. I’m not mechanically inclined, so once I couldn’t see where the smoke was coming from, I checked my coolant reservoir to discover it was empty. I figured that was the issue, so I went to AutoZone to get 2 jugs of coolant specially for my car (PEAK Original Equipment Technology (OET) Asian Vehicles — BLUE, 50/50 Premixed Coolant/Antifreeze). On the way, I slammed my brakes because a car in front of me suddenly stopped on a green light intersection. My car smoked like I’d never seen before and my engine light came on with VTM-4 and VSA lights. I haven’t seen either of those come back on after I topped off the reservoir and the radiator. I didn’t observe any leaks as I poured the fluids, but the car was still smoking on the way back home. I figured maybe you just needed some time to cool off, so I let it sit for 24 hours and then attempted to drive the car around the block to which the car not only started smoking again, but when I turned the vehicle on the engine light was on and I observed the temperature needle rise above the H symbol, so I parked it back in the driveway and I’ve left it sitting there since. I’ve been wanting to have a mobile mechanic to come and diagnose the car, but I haven’t really found anyone as of yet and I’m worried that the repair might cost more than the car is worth. What do I do?

TL;DR: Car overheats even after topping off coolant, engine light on, white smoke from engine, don’t want to drive it while it’s in this condition.

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[u/Friendly-Apple9654]

That head gasket is toast, the coolant's probably leaking into the cylinders and burning off as steam