Engine knock and loud bang

[Shrek51]

(Let me give context, i noticed my car had been running hot the week prior and i flushed coolant right before this happened)

so I was on a road trip and I was going over a lot of high mountain passes and I was coming down The hill when out of nowhere My engine started knocking. I was just trying to coast into the next town and there was one spot where I just gave it a little bit of gas, I heard a very loud bang, and by the time I just rolled down the hill and stopped in the gas station, There was white smoke flooding my cabin. I also noticed that it was harder to turn my wheel and the battery light was on.

The inside I’ve gotten from friends of mine is that the head gasket blew - but I’m not really sure because I’m not an expert on cars. I noticed as well when I popped the hood that there was a lot of some type of liquid splashed along the drivers side near the battery, and I think it was oil that was dribbling out underneath my car

Any advice is helpful, i need to determine if my car is a write off or not

 

[cobrajeff96]

Either the engine failed to stay within safe temperature range (either due to coolant system failure or oil system failure (or both)) or the rotating assembly got starved for oil somehow. Or both.

Head gaskets (at the very least MLS gaskets) don't just blow due to age or mileage, they give up because they've been subjected to conditions beyond their capabilities.

What is certain just from your description alone is that your motor is done. You either need a full teardown/inspection/rebuild (if possible on the rebuild part) or just an entirely new motor.

 

[RAU03MACH]

Did you check if one of the rods are hanging out of the block
That is a good indicator it's done

 

[07GtS197]

3.8’s are prone to blow head gaskets especially the pre 99 models.