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Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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KevinTakai
New User
Jan 18, 2013, 12:49 AM
Post #1 of 10
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Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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I've owned a 2004 automatic Lexus IS300 for about 2 years now and not too long ago I ended up getting into an accident where my radiator and fan got pushed up resulting in my hood sticking out a bit. I finally got around to taking my car apart and lowering the inside base to get the radiator and fan lower to get my hood back in place which was a success. I then put everything back into place but I completely forgot I drained out the radiator before doing so and I forgot to completely fill in the radiator with fluid/water. I then decided to drive out of town for about an hour. I was 30mins into my destination and next thing you know I came to a sudden brake, I was driving about 65-80 for a good half hour. Once I slightly tapped on the brake next thing you know my car started to steam like crazy from the hood and I pulled off onto the side of the freeway immediately. It was steaming so much it looked like cheech and chong's was smoking in my hood @.@ As I tried to pull over on the side of the road I could feel my wheel stiffening up. As soon as I pulled over I opened up my hood to let it air out all the steam. (The steam was white) I waited a bit for a tow truck to come pick up my car and let the car cool down to check the results. There was white residue of some type all over the insides and i noticed that the hose connected to the radiator that was lightweight slipping off the radiator. I tried to tighten it and it didnt work so next thing I did was unhook the hose. What I discovered when I unhooked the hose the piping from the radiator was cracking and chipping off and the pipe seemed to be flaking. I was wondering if anyone knows the results of driving on low radiator fluid and what I may have to do to fix this up. I probably missed out on some key facts but everything I could think of was off the top of my head. Can someone help me and tell me what I could possibly do to fix this?? Sorry for this being all over the place I'm really worried about my car One last thing I forgot to mention while I was pulling over the steam was coming out of the hood, I couldnt tell if there was steam coming out of my exhaust or if it was because so much steam was coming from the hood. I was wondering If you could also give me an estimate on a blown head gasket if that is the situation here thank you~
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Jan 18, 2013, 4:18 AM
Post #2 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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This is not going to have a good result. Driving a car until temperature makes it stop usually results in severe internal damage. They can handle a lot of things but extreme heat is not one of them.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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nickwarner
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Jan 18, 2013, 4:49 AM
Post #3 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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You need a new engine. You melted this one down. Its an expensive mistake unfortunately.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jan 18, 2013, 2:25 PM
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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Of course it would. I change engines for that reason every day and they always say, "I couldn't stop. I had to get somewhere". $4000 later, they got to their destination.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Jan 18, 2013, 2:25 PM)
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nickwarner
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Jan 18, 2013, 7:20 PM
Post #6 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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$12 in coolant and ten minutes of your time would've averted this entire problem. Like HT, I also have replaced engines like this for the same reasons. As I said, its an expensive mistake.
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jan 18, 2013, 7:56 PM
Post #7 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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We have a Hyundai in the shop right now that was overheated, but the driver didn't want to stop. Engine wouldn't start, removed the radiator cap and the radiator was empty. Filled it up and left the cap off. Cranked the engine and Old Faithful came out the radiator neck. Engine trashed and the customer doesn't have the money to fix it.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Jan 19, 2013, 4:30 AM
Post #8 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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Everybody thinks that getting to their destination is more important than the overheating of the engine. This is usually a few thousand dollar error in judgment. Once it reaches a certain temp, it only takes seconds to ruin the engine.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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nickwarner
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Jan 19, 2013, 2:54 PM
Post #10 of 10
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Re: Car Radiator Help! URGENT~!
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I don't think anyone feels this was done intentionally. Obviously the poster feels foolish for such a small oversight that is now a big money item. Even us pros have had some epic fails at some point in time in our careers. We've overlooked some small thing and it came back to bite us bad. Really hits your pride. If you think of it, with low enough coolant level the temp sensor might've read low since it was in air not water. I'm shocked he made it as far as he did before meltdown. But now the damage is done and the lesson is costly.
We have all seen this same type of scenario many times as we all work in shops. I'm sorry to tell you that the hopeful answer of a head gasket is not likely to be on the table. You locked up a red-hot motor. This is a goner. Its the details that make the difference in a job done right and a disaster, as you now see. Its checking your work over prior to startup that stops a lot of that. Real similar to the carpenter's saying "measure twice, cut once."
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