My 1995 ford escort is losing water/coolant and is smoking white out back and spluttering. there is no water in oil + no oil in water. what can it be as it doesn't seem to be the head gasket.

3 ways of loosing the coolant/water search for leak -hole in radiator,hoses at connections or damaged,water pump,heater core and hoses //blown head gasket coolant being burnt will show white smoke out tail pipe ,oil will show milky cocoa color ---//transmission oil cooler lines have internal damage in radiator and transmission has fluid draining

Did you check the front floor board,heater core could be leaking?

Blown head gasket. Pull the spark plugs. The cleanest one is where it is blowing or sucking coolant. Sorry. White is water/coolant. black is gas. bluish is oil.

if you are losing coolant and and producing white smoke from the tailpipe you have the classic sign of a bown head gasket. usually this smoke is accompanied by a bitter sweet odor. most common causes are severe engine overheating or severe misfire(flashing check engine light). take the car in for a diagnosis.

The key is how much smoke? Does the smoke have a smell to it. Are you consuming any fluids, like coolant, or oil?

Tons White smoke that is sweet smelling is usually coolant getting into the combustion chamber.

Less white smoke, especially if other cars are doing it, is normal. For every gallon of gas that you burn, you generate a gallon (GALLON) of water. so this water usually evaporates, but sometimes not. It has little or no smell.

If the smoke is bluish white, that is oil, but usually your converter would fill with oil, and cause error codes, or loss of power. This smell is distinct, but not necessarily sweet.... After the converter heats up, it may be able to burn off the oil and the smoke stops.

What are you consuming, fluid wise, will direct where you go next.

May be a head gasket. Anti-freeze will burn white / gray. Make sure you are not losing coolant. Look at your oil on the dip for any signs of foaming / water.
Take care.

overheating, white smoke from tail pipe(ignore this one during cold weather), oil is light brown or milky looking which indicates water in the oil, and of course loosing coolant when there is no coolant leak

White smoke is coolant being burnt. That with your lose of power would suggest a bad head gasket. A compression test could confirm it. Hope this helps.

well I'd say that coolant is definitely leaking into the combustion chamber, albeit at a slow rate (for now). It could be anything from a blown head gasket to a cracked block or head. I'd get it to a shop as soon as possible and not drive it any more than need be until that point.

if the smoke is white? and engineis boilng cooling system/ check for greasy oil film in header tank ? loss of coolant ? from your symptoms so far ? it is pointing to cylinder head gasket has blown and hot compressions from cylinder/s are superheating cooling system? this is not the end of car? as h/gasket is easy diy however if milage is very high and body poor? contemplate ? will it pass next mot and is it worth spending ? if you intend diy h/gasket? then haynes manual is worth reading as to this repair and any other jobs/repairs in the future?