Service King "Totaled" my 2003 Pontiac Vibe because of it's year and their damage estimate exceeded $7,000.
From my best estimate the damage was to the upper right front and involved the radiator, and the intake manifold after removing the hood and the right fender. the frame was undamaged. I thought I would take it upon myself to rebuild it, so I bought it from my insurance company.
I purchaed all the damaged parts: Radiator, intake mnifold, and right fender. After rebuilding it, and replacing the fluids it started up like nothing happened. After a few minutes the new radiator fan kicked on (as expected) and ran for a few minutes more. Then after a few more minutes black smoke started bellowing from the back of the engine. I killed the engine and let it cool down. Now it won't start. So my question can an engine fry that fast? I didn't run it that long. And it ran fine until the black smoke started until I killed the engine.
The engine turns over. It just won't start after the black smoke incident.
Thanks for any suggestions.
RBollinger