95 monte carlo coolant not reaching engine;engine overheats but no colored smoke coming out of tailpipe could head gasket need replacement

Hi Anonymous,
It probably depends how far you drove after the car overheated. It is extremely bad news to drive an overheated car.
Typically the head gasket (between the cylinder head and the engine block) will warp when the coolant goes dry and the engine overheats. And then it leaks - both on the outside of the engine block and with big white smoke out the tailpipe.
Replacing the head gasket is doable but expensive.
But if you don't see any leaks on the block or white smoke you may have dodged a bullet.
Hope this helps,
Bud

It really runs hot within a minute of starting ?
An engine that runs hot in a few minutes is often having problems with the water pump or a blockage in the cooling system. The thermostat does not open until 195 degrees which takes 5 or 10 miles of driving.
During that time, the water pump should be circulating coolant in the block and the heater hoses.
A leaking head gasket should be putting extra pressure into the cooling system, and-or dumping coolant into the cylinders which would come out the exhaust pipe. But it should still take a few minutes for the engine to reach the boiling point of 240 degrees.

Is the motor running when you hear this noise ? Is the car using coolant, does the level change ? Is the smoke like normal condensation you see when its cold outside?

The most likely cause of your car producing lots of white smoke from the exhaust is a blown head gasket. The reason it makes so much white smoke is because the leaking head gasket is letting water leak into the cylinders and when combustion happens it actually produces steam which looks like white smoke.

The water comes from the cooling system. There are cooling passages around the combustion cylinders to help them stay cool. The head gasket is just there to make a tight seal between the engine block and the cylinder head.
Unfortunately there is no fast and easy fix to head gasket problems. Some people buy "leak stop" products, but I caution you not to do that. The problem with them is that they contain products that are supposed to stop leaks (which they rarely do) and these products actually get stuck in the radiator and other cooling passages and cause them to become blocked. I would never use a product like this. It is better to just replace the head gasket.

You should take your car to a good mechanic to double check and make sure that is the problem. There are several tests they can do which will confirm that the head gasket is bad if it really is. They can do a cooling system pressure test or a cylinder leak down test to see if it really is bad or not.

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Head gasket failure or a crack in the cylinder head allowing engine coolant to enter the combudtion chamber, then out of the exhaust.

I hate to say it, but it definitely sounds like you have a blown head gasket. Overheating and white colored, "sweet" smelling smoke are both telltale signs of this. If it started overheating first and the white smoke came after, then you will need to have your cooling system inspected after the head gasket is replaced.

Typical symptoms of a blown headgasket may include: -bubbles of air coming up into your radiator (remove cap before starting) -leaking radiator -milkshake colored oil -overheating -rough running -coolant or oil running from head -spark plug(s) that have a green tint (if green coolant). -white colored or sweet smelling exhaust, white smoke of your tail pipe, or loosing coolant through your overflow

The white smoke is from a blown headgasket, your coolant is leaking into one or more cylinders and that's actually steam that you see coming from your tailpipe.
When this happens, your coolant level drops (because it's pumping it out the tailpipe), your car overheats, and of course it will knock as it overheats. An overheated car is sluggish, as well.
Another bad thing that occurs by driving a car with this problem is that the coolant is washing the oil off your cylinder walls and your rings will tear up your cylinder walls as they self-destruct.
Head gasket replacement is not an easy fix nor is it cheap, and usually you'll need to get the head machined to make it perfectly straight again - heads warp from overheating. A good mechanic can do a head gasket replacement in a few hours.
Overheating can cause knocking.Your best bet is to replace your motor because usually the knocking noise is caused by a spun bearing which would cost a lot to repair.

When the engine is "over heating" are the radiator cooling fans running on high speed?

Has there been any engine work performed on the vehicle lately?

Let me know.
Regards,

The upper intake manifolds are known for cracking on the inside around the egr tube.

That white cloud is caused by a blown head gasket, the knocking noise could be, a rod bearing, thrust bearing, somewhere in the valve train. Replace the head gasket and see if it still knocks, and change the oil and filter too. If it still knocks, than you have bigger problems.