i have seen some posts about this here, but if you all dont mind, i would liike to state my individual problem in this thread, i hope thats ok.
I only had 1000 bucks, and found this toyota camry wagon (1992):
lovely car -
but it had 175k miles on it.
it was a choice between this and a ford Taurus, year 2000 with 70k miles, for 3000 dollars, from a friend that i could pay off.
my mechanic told me to jump for the camry...
so i did. also, i just didnt want to be in debt at all, im not blaming my mechanic, but that is how it happened
anyway, for 2 months it was great -
but recently i noticed steam coming from the right side of my hood and my temp was approaching the red zone. I quickly pulled over, and upon opening the hood, i noticed water was spurting out of the reservoir overflow tube -
i made it home fine, and started to diagnose it. Now, i have done some mechanic work, but real easy stuff, fluid changes, radiator, replacing a brake system, all on older, american cars. so i KNOW i am NOT a mechanic, by any stretch.
i immediately thought "head gasket" because this has kinda happened to me before, in my last car, a chrysler new yorker. But, i checked the oil, not milky, and no white smoke from the exhaust. The water seemed brownish/greenish/clear but not bubbling or milky.
I heard a weird sound coming from the "area" of where i "think" the water pump is on the lower left hand side of the engine (facing it). It went away, but i then checked to see if the top radiator hose was hot - it was, but the lower one was barely warm, which said to me, the wannabee mechanic, that it was maybe a thermostat.
I put the thermostat in, i made sure it was the right way, to the best of my knowledge it was.
it didnt help. I took it to the mechanic, he said he checked the thermostat and it was in right - and threw his hands up. He charged me 40 bucks for looking at it, but didnt know what it could be. It could be the water pump he said, but it could also be the head gasket, he said.
He would put in the water pump, and then of course, a new timing belt i would assume, and then see if it works.
this just isnt good enough for me. I asked him if there was a test he could do to see if any of my cylinders were leaking or weak (already knowing to the best of my knowledge that you CAN do a compression test).
he said, no. theres no test. theres a chemical you can put in to see if the fluids are mixing but that hardly works.
so i gave up on him, i think he thinks im just too poor and wont pay for an expensive repair, but he doesnt realize that i have college in 2 weeks, and i will sell some gear or do what i need to to make this bloody thing work.
but i cant do the complicated repairs due to my lack of skill/tools/workspace.
so i tried to do some more diagnostics lol...
i waited till it cooled down/dried off and without turning it on, i poured water directly into the radiator. I heard the water pouring out, on the lower left hand side by the engine... and felt a mist of cool water coming up at me from the belt (after i turned it on and attempted to "burp" it by pouring water into it whilst running?).
i immediately thought "the seal of the water pump is broke" or something (again, uneducated non-mechanic speak i realize) ... but then thought maybe any spilled water was traveling down the frame and dripping out cause i was being kinda careless.
it could also be some huge hold punched in the radiator...
not sure.
Today i was extra careful, and the water was going through like a sieve.
how didnt the guy catch onto this? what could it be?
I called a new mechanic that i heard good things about, and he is booked solid for a week. maybe thats a good sign.
i figure if i get a compression test done, i can see if its the head/gasket, or if i have done any damage to the engine right?
any advice?
sorry for the novel i just wrote....
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