I have a 94 Grand Caravan 3.3L V6 AWD with 175,000 miles on it. I bought it about a month ago from a friend and has been running fine up until Monday, the 17th. I drive this van regularly for commuting.

I was driving home from work on Monday October 17th and was very close to home when I saw the "check gages" light come on and my vehicle began to struggle. I noticed the engine temp reading hot and my heater vents were blowing cold air. Once I stopped, I turned the vehicle off and could hear air bubbles, so I popped the hood and saw the coolant reservoir bubbling (it wasn't low or overflowing), removed the radiator cap and noticed it was low/empty and had gunky residue on the cap and immediate inside. I added water to the radiator and started the vehicle (with some supervision from a mechanic buddy of mine that happened to be in the neighborhood), started the vehicle and noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust (not entirely sure if it was emitting the white smoke previous to this), he had us run it with the radiator cap off for a bit, noticing air work its way out of it. There were no major or immediately noticeable leaks that we were seeing from any hoses or anywhere else we could get eyes on while it was running or off.

We didn't have any tools to look further into it, but he says the signs point to a head gasket issue. Others have mentioned it possibly being a problem with the water pump or thermostat.

My van has been sitting for 4 days now, I haven't started it yet but checked the fluids. My coolant reservoir is now low and the fluid in the radiator appears to be down again as well. The color seems a bit off, like a light muddy greenish. I also checked my engine oil (I didn't personally check it on the day in question) and it is quite dark now and can't really tell if coolant has mixed in with it or not. The engine oil dipstick is reading higher than the level it was when I checked it about 2 weeks ago (before any issues arose and just checking it for good measure. At that point, the color was normal and the level was reading full/ideal level). This time around it was reading where the dipstick bends, above what it read 2 weeks ago.

What I would like to know is ALL the possible issues and possible secondary issues (caused by it being driven while hot). Is it safe to drive it to a nearby mechanic provided I add coolant or water or shall I tow it? The friend I bought the van from said, when I bought it, that he can do labor/repairs for me for free if I buy parts; is what I'm looking at over our heads? The scenario I'm playing in my head is to take it to a shop to pinpoint the issue(s) and assess whether any secondary damages might have occurred and go from there. If it doesn't sound too bad, to save money on labor, I was hoping to have my friend take care of it. I'm also curious as to what motions a shop would go through to diagnose the problem, knowing the symptoms and the possible costs therein. I imagine that there will be some disassembling taking place in regards to checking the head gasket that will make it no longer worth it to have my friend do if the shop has already taken it that far to find the problem.

I also hear that it is wise to get the timing belt changed in conjunction with anything involving the water pump as they typically involve similar labor to get to either. True?

 

3.3Ls run timing chains, but doing it while it's apart wouldn't be a bad idea. Sounds like a blown HG to me by your description of the antifreeze. I would tow it at this point to avoid over heating it again, but by the same respects the damage is already done.
If your mechanic thinks it's timing belt, find a different mechanic as he obviously has no idea what he's looking at.