Engine stopped due to radiator leakage

The engine of my Corolla stopped and fumes were coming from the hood. The oil temperature was high, but not too high. The car was fixed because it was the garage's fault for not properly fitting a tube.

My question is: can this cause any permanent damage?

Reply to
skeydgellg
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The engine of my Corolla stopped and fumes were coming from the hood. The oil temperature was high, but not too high. The car was fixed because it was the garage's fault for not properly fitting a tube.

My question is: can this cause any permanent damage?

Reply to
skeydgellg

My question is: why did the engine stop? Answer that one and I'll get back to you.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

Yes, it could have caused permanent damage. Overheating is often accompanied by blown head gaskets or warped/cracked heads.

Not enough information to come to a conclusion.

Reply to
<HLS

If the engine seized due to overheat, then there is certainly engine damage. Even though the shop fixed the original radiator leak and got the engine running, the engine damage is still there. The extent of the damage and how long it takes to show up is unknown.

Reply to
Al Bundy

the oil temp was high but not too high? ......i'm not sure if we are speaking of a cracked head or a crack head. high but not too high..sorta like the ole gal that was fat but not too fat, or or like this response which is funny, bit not that funny. what tube are you referring to? i'm assuming that you lost engine coolant and the vehicle ran hot, if that is the case, you could certainly encounter problems with this engine later. there most certainly was some damage done, but the extent is really undeterminable,.... but not too unditerminable?

Reply to
plainoldmechanic

The oil temparature was higher than normal, but not in the red zone. I have no idea if the engine itself was running to hot, that's why I asked.

Cooling fluid was leaking because a tube was not properly fitted after a pump was repaired.

Reply to
skeydgellg

I doubt you did any lasting damage. The car is still running with no detectible problems? Then, by definition, you didn't do any lasting damage.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

Does the car have an oil temperature gauge? Some cars do have this in the array of digital information but many do not.

Did the engine coolant temperature gauge go into the red zone OR drop to very cool?

Which tube was repaired. And more importantly did the engine run out of oil or coolant?

Reply to
John S.

A cooling fluid pump was replaced before the coolant leak appeared.

The engine had sufficient oil.

There's an analog gauge for oil temperature, it has a black zone and a small red zone at the top. It did not touch the red zone, but it came close.

There's no cooling fluid gauge. There's a warning light for the engine. I saw that when the engine stopped.

Also, heating was on full but it didn't work at that trip, it was freezing outside.

Radiator cooling fluid (green) apparently leaked from a tube fitted somewhere between radiator and engine. It was visible from beneath the car for the mechanic. I haven't seen it myself though. After the engine had stopped, cooling fluid was added and the car started again, I drove the car to the shop to repair the leakage. Heating worked right away.

Reply to
skeydgellg

If your car lost enough coolant such that it overheated to the point the engine siezed up, then you probably have some engine damage. How severe is anyones guess. I would push the garage for paying for a complete overhaul.

Reply to
John S.

My guess is you're probably OK. If everything is running as it should, then nothing *bad* happened. No funny noises, nothing unusual about the exhaust, acceleration is smooth, along with idling...you're probably OK. Watch the coolant level over the next few days to see if you might still have a leak somewhere. Other than that, maybe you got Lucky. Listen to the engine with the hood up. No *funny* noises? You're OK. Give it a little throttle with the hood up. No *funny* noises? Engine running smoothly? You're probably OK.

Nobody can say if you have scored your cylinder liners with the piston rings without pulling the head off. If you don't hear anything unusual, there is no _reason_ to pull the head off.

OK? Okay.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

A complete overhaul meaning _what_? What does that entail? It would be cheaper to put another engine in there...a refurbished/rebuilt. You think the garage is going to do this because the OP simply asks them to? Gimme the name of that garage, and I'll be doing business with -them- from now on.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

A complete overhaul meaning whatever he can talk the guy into and that may involve threat of lawsuit with an appropriately worded letter from an attorney. Clearly the car owner was damaged by the mechanic's ineptitude and should be compensated. If the engine got so hot it siezed and stopped running then you have the very real chance of galled bearing surfaces.

I would not recommend as you are that the car owner roll the dice and hope that nothing wrong has happened only to find out in 10,000 miles that the lower end is going to fail.

Reply to
John S.

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This is beginning to sound more like an Insurance Claim to me, but without any demonstrable DAMAGE, WTF is the payout for?

You want someone to tear down the engine to prove it isn't damaged, and then put it back together again?!!!? That isn't going to happen. Letters from Attorney or NOT.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

Please clarify.

You say the engine had stopped.

Did the engine slow down and come to a stop on it's own?

If yes, you had the engine 'seize up' is the correct term, not 'stopped'. A seized up engine due to lack of cooling is now a dead engine or is 'soon' to be a dead engine.

An amazing amount of wear had to happen when it seized up. The 'rubber' seals like valve guide seals and others are all now baked hard. Gaskets like the valve cover and head gasket got baked hard.

If the engine still runs, you got very lucky. How long it will continue to run is a crap shoot.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

This still isn't clear. Did the engine STOP by itself and then you noticed the overheat warning, or did you shut it down as soon as the warning light came on?

If it stopped first and then you noticed the warning, then you probably did some significant damage to it by driving it while overheated. The fact that the heater didn't work adds to the worry- it probably didn't have enough coolant to circulate at all, and so the engine's internal temperature got EXTREMELY high. Just a guess based on unclear information.

Reply to
Steve

Nothing is permanent. You can replace most parts. If the car overheated I would be concerned with head warpage.

------------ Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

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