Cracked Radiator and Overheating

[jd84]

Wanted to ask a question. My wife's 99 camry has had a crack in the radiator for a few months now. The crack is along the top plastic piece. We have just made sure it has had water in it at all times. Yesterday on the way to work she didn't make it and the car overheated and cutoff. After letting it cool down and filling it with water she was able to make it the rest of the way to work. On the way home it did the same thing cutoff and had to cool down, and then add more water. We were able to get it home, and we are not going to even turn it on again. If we get a new radiator will it be OK? Hope it didn't do to much damage to the engine.

[BMR]

Yes, replacing the radiator will fix the overheating, if nothing else it wrong.

the car overheated and cutoff

What does cutoff mean?... it stalled? That ain't good. Does it start and run OK now? It's possible the head gasket is blown. Check the oil, does it look milky like a chocolate shake? Is there white, sweet-smelling smoke coming out of the exhaust?

[jd84]

Yes it overheated on the Hwy and cut completely off. Had to fill it with water and let it cool for about 30 minutes before it would start back up. There is no smoke coming from the exhaust at all. have not checked the oil yet.

[Chris Crash]

So you knew the radiator was cracked for a few months...and didn't replace it...?

[pmesfun]

Yeah, cutting off is not good, that happened to me on my old van and the headgasket blew.

[BMR]

Was thinking about this some more, and realized that when it overheated, the pistons may have mildly seized in their bores. So even if the head gasket is OK, it might consume oil or worse, might permanently seize up later on. Impossible to know without getting a look at the cylinder bores.

[carsrus]

If the HG didnt blow your gonna start consuming oil, especially since she kept on driving after that first episode.

Sometimes it better to man up and pay the tow bill vs. losing an engine. Change the rad and hope for the best.