I was driving home today when my car started running rough and shuddering and my CEL started flashing. In the past two weeks, two replacement coils have gone out with the exact same symptoms (my mechanic got a bad batch, and we've been slowly replacing again one by one), so I assumed it was another bad coil and dragged the car in to the mechanic. However, when I got there, we realized there was smoke rolling out from under the hood, and on a presumably unrelated note, I'd snapped a front motor mount in the two weeks since I'd been there. Of course I'll be getting an idea of what's wrong in the next couple of days, but I'm just trying to do my research now. Is it still possible that it could be a blown coil accompanied by another problem, or am I looking at a potential new engine? I was relatively calm about the situation until a friend suggested that my engine might be shot, so I'd really appreciate any starting points so that I can research and potentially brace myself for the hit. Thank you for any help!

 

Where was the smoke coming from? Overheating? Oil coming from somewhere?

 

You might want to clarify which engine you have, 3.0L or 3.5. Your first post doesn't mention what car you're driving.