96 camry LE - coolant/engine probs

Aug 11, 2006 3 Replies
F

Hiya,



I have a 1996 Camry. An issue occured recently. While driving, the temp guage went up to almost max. I stopped car and looked under hood. Reserve coolant level was fine. Waited a bit, drove and guage was still high. Stopped again, and waited. I opened the radiator cap a bit and fluid started spewing/bubbling out. It stopped after 2 mins. I put cap on and drove - all seemed well. Then the engine started acting up - shaking violently. At stop sign, the rpms started fluctuating till engine stopped. Looked under hood - reserve coolant empty.



I had a nearby mechanic look at it - he didnt see a leak in radiator and he put a new cap on the radiator. Drove on and ran into problem again.



Any ideas on what is up? Bad radiator? I plan to take car in to a mechanic this weekend, so I want to have some suggestions what to look for. Its a 10 year old car and I dont want to spend too much on it.



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J

Get a complete cooling system check up. The mechanic should be able to determine if the problem is within the cooling system: coolant mixture ratio, stuck or low-performance thermostat (the thermostat needs both to open AND to close water passages), restricted radiator, bad/low-performance water pump, radiator/condenser fans, you obviously have a good rad cap; or if the problem is with the head gasket.

Does the oil look milky? Do you have steam (white smoke) coming out of the exhaust? Is there coolant on the spark plug(s)? Don't jump into an expensive head gasket job without verifying that the problem isn't in the cooling system first.

fatherfigure wrote:

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M

Sounds like bullshit, You opened a pressurised Boiling radiator cap, and it spewed for minutes empting maybe a gallon. Of course you didnt burn yourself on the 240f steam, it wasnt that hot was it . The car shook , yep its cooked.

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M

A Ford Troll, so how could a mechanic find a leak without the system under pressure, with the radiator COVERED in overflow! a Bad troll...

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