2008 Camry (Engine Heat)

08 so its under warranty? Likely some serious trouble, aluminum warps when overheated. Curious, when was coolant checked last, did a toy dealer work on the car at all recently.I guess at a minimum the head will have to be removed and looked into, at worst the motor has problems. 18000 it should not loose water, at all. Something is factory defective unless a rock hit the radiator.

Did you actually just add plain water? I'm no expert but I am pretty sure that you should have it drained and re-fill with the right coolant mix. And if you did add water and the dealer actually listened to everything you said then he's a crook to not change the water for coolant mix.

So why did the temperature gauge show zero if the engine was overheating?

The other question is where did all the coolant go? Does the water pump have a slow leak? How often do you check the coolant?

Overheating is never a good thing on aluminum block engines. They have very little tolerance to overheating.

Not much you can do now. Even if something happened to the engine because of a lack of coolant, it won't be covered by the warranty because running the engine without coolant is considered abuse.

The coolant fell below the engine temp sensor thats why it went to zero i guess, isnt there a warning he missed. If it was a defect he should have a warranty

plain water is only a problem when it goes below freezing, yes it should of been replaced with the right coolant mix

you probably have a slow coolant leak, probably something very simply, check the coolant daily or when you see the temp go to zero pull over (with no coolant the temp sensor is measuring ambient air temperature, not a great design, eh?)

you might have some engine damage

Plain water boils at a low temp, run it hot, turn off the motor and you might hear it boil in the head, i have on a V8, boiling creates pressure.

Not totally true. From

: Q. What is the best antifreeze/coolant concentration for a vehicle? Can I use 100% antifreeze? A. We recommend that you use between a 50% and 70% concentration of antifreeze. At least 50% is necessary to give the adequate amount of corrosion protection, as well as freeze/boilover protection. However, we do not recommend more than 70% antifreeze. This would cause restriction of the heat transfer capabilities, corrosion protection, and freeze protection. The concentration of freeze/boilover protection of the antifreeze mixture can be checked using a Prestone® Antifreeze Coolant Tester.

So the net is - you need the proper mix to get corrosion protection, protection againt freezing, efficient heat transfer, and protection against boil over.

Ed

I have seen this happen when you boil away all the coolant. Once there is no water in the system, the temperature around the coolant sensor is no longer properly related to the actual engine temperature.

Years ago I had a similar problem on a Datsun 280Z. The radiator cap had not been properly secured, so the system was not pressurized. The water in an unpressurized system has a much lower boiling point than when the system is properly pressurized. Late at night I was driving back from a distant city at somewhat higher than legal speeds. The water temperature stayed OK as long as I was moving becasue I was forcing a lot of cooling air through the radiator. However, when I stopped in a small town, the entire contents of the radiator essentially flash boiled. I had a giant cloud of steam come from under the hood and the temperature gauge acted exactly as in the case of the OP. It was late at night, but the policeman in the town where I lost all the water helped me get some water. After the engine cooled, I added the water to the radiator, and made it the rest of the way home without incident.

It depends on what actually happened. If the radiator cap was not properly secured, the water could have exited as steam through the cap.

So true. However, if the car is running OK, and not using oil or water, I doubt there was any permanent damage. Doesn't Toyota have a "fail-safe" cooling system like most other companies? These reduce engine power, and selectively cut fuel off to cylinders in a rotation to essentially air cool the engine and allow you to limp to safety. My Ford says I can drive 50 miles with no coolant. And even then, you can let the car cool breifly and dive even further.

It would depend on why the engine lost all the coolant. If there was an engine failure that caused the coolant loss, then any engine damage should be covered by the warranty. The key is in determining why the coolant boiled out.

Ed

unless a rock hit the radiator he should be covered unless he left the cap off, but I think he would have smelled it first.

No, maximum heat transfer/boil over protection occurs with 100% water, it has a higher specific heat capacity (it's ability to absorb heat per gram) then pure antifreeze, it's a tradeoff , like everything, also remember where you got your info from, not exactly impartial. I agree with the corrosion issue though.

You are correct about the heat capacity, but I didn't say "maximum." I said "efficient" in context with the other reasons you need antifreeze (corrosion protection, lower freezing point, higher boiing point, etc.) A good summary of the various properties of a water / ethylene glycol mix is at

Because the water / ethylene glycol mix has less heat capacity than water, you need to circulate it through the system at a higher rate to achieve the same cooling as with pure water. Fortunately, at the higher temperature of a cooling system, the 50/50 water / ethylene glycol mixture is less viscous than pure water, which improves the circulation rate. And as an added bonus, at lower temperatures, the viscosity is greater, which reduces the speed of circulation, improving warm up time. A win-win...

I think the net is - your car was designed for a water / antifreeze mix. That is what you should use.

Ed

With pure water when a hot motor is shut off, I have heard it boil in the heads, not good in my opinion. New motors run hotter than old motors as is designed in for efficency. 50-50 is best. 100% antifreeze and you will overheat in summer when a mix wont, run 100% antifreeze at -20f and the heater core in the cabin wont keep you warm the difference in heat transfer abilities is so pronounced.