'02 Chevy Camaro 3.8L, V6 Auto, 100K mi. Heard engine knocking (like about to run out of gas) then lost oil presure, then engine temp redlined. some smoke/steam came out of engine compartment. (no water in oil, fluids all OK) head gasket blown?

You can start by performing a compression test to determine if you do have a blown head gasket. You say all fluid levels are good and no oil in coolant or coolant in oil? Once you determine you compression, if good start vehicle and open radiator cap, see if you have coolant flow, you can rev engine a little and watch the coolant flowing in the radiator, if you don't see this, you may have had a water pump go bad. Start there and let me know what you find.

I agree a compression test is required this does sound like a bad head gasket or you may have main bearing issues either way these are both high dollar major repairs with or without having to pay for labor

I towed the car to a friends shop. He said there are two coolant lines that run to the engine block. one of the lines was destroyed the other was leaking. causing the engine temp to redline. the high engine temp boiled the engine oil causing me to lose oil presure. Everything else checked out ok.

Thanks for your comments. I've never been so glad to pay $250.00, I was planning on 2-3 thousand.

(oh i also found out that if there is a leak in the coolant the car will stop taking coolant out of the overflow. so when i checked the coolant level i should have unscrewed the cap on the radiator while engine was cool. Perhaps i could have avoided all of this if i had known that in advance)