Please Help!! What amount of damage did I do? head gasket? blown engine?

[unpredictable1]

Let me first set the scene for what you're about to read.

9 am Dec 22, heading from Fort McMurray to Calgary, about a 7 hour highway drive. I get about 50 kilometers out of the starting city when I notice a HUGE smoke trail behind my Explorer. At this point I'm like "what the F@ck?" At that instant my check engine light flashes, my temp starts shooting up, and I have the Explorer turned off and on the side of the road before the temp gauge reaches 3/4s of the way. Smoke everywhere, and yup its from coolant.

Pop the hood, theres coolant all over the ground, and some spraying from a hose all over the place. Heres the bad part, its at least -25 degrees Celcius, VERY VERY cold. I'm trying to patch up the hose because the radiator was a lil less than half full but its so cold the duct tape has become brittle and isn't working too good.

I get her fired up and start heading back the way I came, watching the temp gauge like a hawk. My gf is trying to call a towing service and finally we get a hold of one, its going to be 15 minutes before they attempt to leave cuz they have to warm up their trucks.

So I start limping back to town, doing alot of coasting with the engine off, starting her up and driving her till shes just past 3/4s way and shutting her off. The temp gauge *never* reaches the red zone. I get my truck about 25 clicks back towrds town when I simply can not drive her any more. We then had to wait a very bone chilling 45 minutes in the cold and fellas, it wasn't fun.

I noticed the last couple of times I had started her to get her coasting again from a stop, she was hesitant to move off the line, kinda stuttering but once she got moving she was fine. then when i finally shut her off for good cuz she had enough in my mind, when i tried to fire her up to get just a blast of heat (she would only blow heat for about 10-15 seconds then just blow cold air) She would chug to life, and then die right after. would not stay started. I tried this 2-3 times and left her. then waited for the tow truck to come.

what kind of damage is done? is the engine now blown? or head gasket? or is it just that hose that I really should have to worry about? (i suspect theres another leak elsewhere as well) right now shes sitting in my garage till i get back from holidays to fix. shes got about 173k kilometers on the clock.


please help guys, if i don't get an idea of what i'm up against its going to torment my mind till i get back home over a week from now, something the gf doesn't want!

thanks for all your help and have a very merry christmas!

leo

 

[X24]

Sounds like internal damage to me. What hose was leaking?

 

[unpredictable1]

it was the hose, when you are looking at the engine bay, is on the left hand side, and i think going into the waterpump. its not a very thick hose, no more than an inch in diameter.

 

[88vert]

Sounds like a heater core line

 

[unpredictable1]

yeah that is what i was thinking because *years* ago the same thing happened on my old man's 3.1 chevy lumina sedan.

wouldn't blow hot air and spewed coolant everywhere.

 

[88vert]

I would do a compression check and change the faulty hose,that is a easy one to change.Good luck

 

[unpredictable1]

is there a way to do a compression check myself? what do i need. having this towed to a shop isn't really an option, I'd rather do it all myself.

the hose should be a snap.

will checking the compression tell me if all the seals are good? or is more to do with the integrity of the block....

 

[VairKing]

To do the test, you will need a compression guage, commonly found at auto parts stores. Then you remove spark plugs, one at a time, and thread the guage into the motor, then crank it to get a compression reading. Check all the cyclinders, and that will tell you what is going on internally (to some extent)

Originally posted by lbrowne
but its so cold the duct tape has become brittle and isn't working too good.

OMG I never thought something like that was possible...duct tape not working?????????

<Ryan runs around his house screaming "were all doomed!!!">

 

[unpredictable1]

ok, that doesn't sound too bad to do. i can't see it being too severe if i never drove her to the point she just quit.

the last time i had shut her off she was sitting the longest in that cold. then she wouldn't start again. she'd turn over and catch, but would die very quickly.

i hope those compression testers don't cost too much.

 

[Howard]

You may well have caught it in time. Do the hose and also check the oil level (you may have burnt some off). Refill with water/antifreeze mix. See if she will start up. (might be worth turning by hand a few times just to make sure that it is loose). If she goes then let it warm up to normal checking for further leaks as it goes. Fix all the leaks. Then it's off for a test. Round the block to start. Let her cool down and check the levels again. If all ok you're probably sorted. Any funny noises and more investigation is required. All the best.

 

[unpredictable1]

thanks for the advice so far fellas, its not my idea of a great start to the holiday season.

Howard, I plan on doing what you said first, thanks for replying!

I made very sure that i never let the needle touch the red zone at all. as soon as she got to the end of the white marked range, i shut her down.

i'll look back and chuckle about this one with the gf someday.

 

[88vert]

Good luck

Keep us posted

 

[unpredictable1]

I get back to town where my Explorer is sitting next weekend, so I'll get right to it and update you all.

My old man (father) seems to be pretty sure I've never done any internal damage. Lets hope he is right and the stuff I'm going to attempt gets me back in the saddle

 

[james t]

also, the rough running could be due to the fact that the coolant sprayed onto an electrical component. coil/coilpack, etc. if it never got much over 3/4 of the way on the temp guage, its proly fine.

 

[unpredictable1]

update!!!!

got back after a 7 hour roadtrip, ripped the torn heater hose out from under the hood and got my gf to take me to crappy tire.

bought the bulk 6 ft package of hose, and some screw clamps and a couple of jugs of remix antifreeze. got it all hooked up and topped her up qith coolant and watched for leaks when she was off. none. (btw, i drained out most of what was in the engine for coolant, disconnected the bottom driver side large coolant hose)

started her up and moved her out of the garage. watched and waited. ran fine, no leaks. after about 10 minutes, and after the temp guage did climb a slight bit off of cold, i drove her for a few clicks. no leaks.

heater is starting to blow warm air, left her running for another 10 minutes, no leaks.


i think i nailed it. i hope

thanks for everything guys!

Leo

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

If you want to be 100% sure, run the compression test. The testers are between $20-$40 (US), and can be bought at any autoparts store.

-Aaron

 

[mahieber]

And check the oil on the dipstick to see if it looks milky from anti-freeze/water getting into it.

And tell your girlfriend thanks for keeping you so warm in the great white north.

 

[hydroxy]

Thats what gfs are for =)