head gasket hell

[94beretta]

ok hopefully someone has an idea whats going on,because I have none.I have a 94 base 3.1 auto,just had to replace head gaskets, I took it all apart, cleaned up all the parts,checked the heads and block for flatness,installed all new gaskets reassembled and torqued everything.
Before I did any of this the car wasnt smoking, I was just loosing coolant, Now with the engine reassembled,I started it up and it ran real ruff ,its smoking from the tailpipe and the engine bay,pretty sure the smoke from the engine bay is just carb cleaner on the headers as i only ran it for a few minutes until i noticed the smoke, then shut it down,but it is nothing like it was even when i was loosing coolant it ran quiet and smooth,now its smoking and idling like crap,went to back it out of the garage to let the smoke clear and as soon as I put it in reverse it died,I have no idea what I could have done wrong, sorry for the post if its hard to follow,just came from the garage and am very irritated

[Nafterclifen]

I guess its a little too late for this comment but I'll ask you anyways - are you sure it was the headgasket(s)? The 3100's are notorious for lower intake gasket leaks which then allows coolant to enter into the engine. Sometimes it sprays out rather than in depending on the location but I'm willing to bet it was the intake gaskets from the start.

By the way, your problem sounds electrical to me, a sensor maybe?

[94beretta]

the lower intake gasket was a problem but i had seepage from the head gasket itself,electrical?

by the way the car has 138,000 miles on it

[Jeff P]

What does the smoke smell like and what color is it?  Coolant smoke smells sweet and is white.  Can you tell where the smoke is coming from in the engine bay?  That could lead you to the problem.  Regarding the rough idle, it's possible your plug wires are not in the correct order.  Is there any coolant in your oil?

[94beretta]

all problems sloved,had crossed plug wires 3 and 5 and the smoke from the engine bay stopped,it was just carb cleaner and rust penetrant on the headers,as for the smoke from the tail pipe,friend of mine suggested that it was just condensation from the engine sitting so long(about a month)and from when I removed the cylinder heads and lower intake manifold I spilled coolant into the cylinders, I did suck it all out with shop vac,but I guess some seeped past the rings,so for now its purring like a kitten, thanks for the help

[Jeff P]

Alright, good to hear