- pressure test it to find the leak
- sounds like your radiator tops blew out
- once you find the leak, fix it
- pressure test it again to see if it holds pressure
- then start the car and see how she runs
- if it runs the same then you are good to go

- if you warped the head you'll know......

 

You could perform a compression test to see what the compression numbers are. If the head gasket is compromised, it will show up in the compression numbers. Another method would be to perform a coolant pressure test but since yer radiator is cracked, you'd have to replace that first before performing the test.

Could you snap some piccies and post them?

 

Get new radiator and pressure test system. Look for milkshake in oil. Compression text.Keep fingers crossed. 3.0? Good luck

 

Thanks for the suggestions! When it warms up a little later this morning I'll check the oil and then see if I can get some help to check the compression. I'm hoping to determine if the engine is still good before I replace the radiator. It's a '95 2.7 4-cylinder. I'll get some pics and post them as well.

 

When you perform the compression test, make sure you pull the EFI 15A fuse in the engine bay fuse box so the fuel pump doesn't start squirting fuel into the cylinders.

 

The oil was nice and black, not brown/milky looking, and the compression test was good. All cylinders measured 140-145 psi after the engine turned over 5 times. At least now I feel okay about buying a new radiator. Thanks for the input!

 

"but continued to drive the truck", potentially killing the engine.

"Immediately water started leaking out of the radiator", best news in your whole post, as long as there was water up to the level of the crack.

I'm not going to be nice, it will serve no useful purpose, so here goes.

I got our 99 Maxima back from my son in law, took a trip to the mountains and back, of several hundred miles.

Coolant was low, never saw steam or soaked engine compartment, replaced CRACKED radiator, without any further consequences, cost $100. Never saw any steam.

The critical component of your post is how much water did you have to add before it leaked out of the failed area. If as you posted it immediately leaked out then you should be good, replace the radiator and drive it, as I did with our Maxima (we bought it new in 1999).

Make sure the cooling system is bled of any air, follow the process on u tube, then fill the recovery bottle when cold and the coolant in the NEW radiator is at the top of the radiator and properly bled (no air and PROPERLY BLED,this is critical). Mark the point on the coolant recovery bottle, check it daily for a week, no change you have cooling system integrity, A HUGE POSITIVE. It might lose some coolant, IF THE AIR WAS NOT TOTALLY BLED TO PERFECTION (CRITICAL).

Now watch the oil BEFORE AND AFTER (assuming no coolant loss after checking for a week) carefully for any consumption or contamination. If the coolant is not "disappearing" then there is no coolant to contaminate the oil. Keep watching the coolant and oil daily for a month. No change you are GOLDEN AND VERY LUCKY, BUY A LOTTERY TICKET, ILL TAKE 10%, LOL.

Based on my personal experience, I think you are OK, BUT ONLY IF THERE IS NO LOSS OF COOLANT, AND THE OIL BASICALLY DOES THE SAME THING AS IT DID BEFORE THIS INCIDENT.

The coolant level ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BE AT THE CRACK, IF YOU ADDED A GALLON BEFORE YOU GOT THERE, THIS WHOLE POST IS A WASTE OM OUR TIME. Not trying to be nasty, just facts based on many years of experience and facts are the only way to make this diagnosis, feed me garbage, you get it back, I can no overemphasize the importance of YOUR statement a bout the coolant level before you refilled and it immediately leaked, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL.

Recommendation:
When you see steam, STOP, CALL POP and have the car towed, No exceptions unless you want the most expensive drive in most peoples lifetimes, seen it do $3k in engine damage 30 years ago, IN 10 MILES.

 

Waiting to hear good news. The radiator must have cracked while he was driving it and the pressure blew out the coolant until it got to the level of the crack. I'm thinking positive thoughts until I see another post. :|

 

I ordered a new radiator and while I'm waiting for that to arrive, I decided I should go ahead and remove the old one. While do so, I noticed (should have seen this earlier) that the alternator-water pump belt was missing. On further inspection, I noticed that the belt left a lot of residue on the pump pulley. It looks like the pulley stopped turning and the belt melted on it. I tried turning the pump pulley by hand and at first it didn't want to turn over, but after a little effort it turned freely. Is there a way to check the pump, or should I just replace it? I replaced it about 4-5 years ago (20k miles or so) and one of the screws is held in by thread sert, so I'd rather not pull that out unless necessary since I don't know how well it'll hold next time around.

 

Upon this further information, it seems likely that the sequence of events could have happened as follows. Water pump seized up, belt kept spinning on seized pump causing the initial smoke that your son saw from under the hood. The belt eventually melted and broke (the alternator / battery light should have immediately illuminated on the dash). Without belt turning water pump, the engine would soon overheat causing pressure to build up to point of bursting the radiator (seems that a hose or pressure cap would have given up first). I would think the water pump cannot be any good at this point even if you can now turn it by hand and needs to be removed / inspected / replaced.

Hoping for the best on your engine, that it did not suffer permanent damage from the overheating condition.

 

Are you sure the pump turned or was it just the fan clutch spinning? I would pull the water pump just to make sure nothing got jammed up inside. BTW, yer gonna need to replace the thermostat as it's most likely locked in the wide open state. Remember to snap some piccies and post them.

In case you need some instructions on replacing the water pump on the 3rzfe (I know you did it before), here's a write up on this forum.
https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/60-t-100-forum/381578-3rzfe-water-pump-replacement.html

 

I pulled out the water pump and it definitely has some problems. I can feel a lot of friction in the bearings when turning the impeller and at some point while turning it will freeze up.


Now, regarding those screws that hold the pump onto the engine, one of them broke and another one clearly needs a thread sert. The broken one looks like it has 2-3 threads still in the engine block. I haven't tried to get it out yet because there's not a lot to grab onto. I squirted some wd-40 on it last night to displace any water and I'll spray some sili-kroil on it this morning to help loosen it. When I get home from work tonight (if it isn't raining) I'll try to twist it out with some channel locks. If there's a better way, then let me know!

 

bdahl probably has the sequence right, makes the most sense. Looking at that water pump it is clear it is shot. Wondering why it looks rusted like that. When I took out my water pump from my seized engine it looked virtually brand new inside, and it had about 200k on it.

And I agree some warning lights should have popped on, the temp gauge should have climbed up pretty fast. Time to re-enforce to the son to watch the gauges and warning lights! My daughter did similar by not paying attention to the oil level and thinking the oil pressure light was a reminder of sorts. And that is why I had to put a new engine in it.

 

I don't know if lights came on or not, but I figure he didn't drive it far before he got it home. The fan belt drives the alternator and the battery still has enough to readily start the truck. Son says it happened driving up the hill coming home which means about 2 blocks. But, you're both right. This has been a big teaching opportunity.


I can't claim any high ground for how I've maintained this truck. We bought it with over 300K miles on it and while I've kept it running, it has kind of been treated as a burro. It was fully depreciated and pretty beat up, but despite constant abuse it has kept going. I was impressed that at 330K the compression was pretty even across all 4 cylinders.

 

Thanks to all for the input. I followed the previously listed link for replacing the water pump and did the full job (radiator, hoses, pump, thermostat, belts). Truck runs great!

 

That is great!! A happy outcome from a potential high $$$$ repair.

 

I bought a 2019 used Lexus RX 350 with 30K miles. When i registered the car with Lexus and saw a service problem at 23K miles the fan belt popped off causing the engine to overheat and there was a loud pop and car shut off. Car was towed in and a block check done and Lexus said all was ok. Do I need to be concerned down the road at 50 to 100K miles?

 

You have the option of taking your car to a reliable mechanic to perform a vehicle inspection to determine if there are any major issues that the vehicle may have. It will probably cost you a few hundred now but it can potentially save you from a bigger bill in the future.

 

Thanks for the reply....as I said Lexus at that time did a Block check and passed. When I took it in for some warranty work recently, I asked the service writer his opinion he just read off the screen.....my Mechanic who owns a Lexus and a couple of Toyotas (i live 150 miles from a Lexus dealer)...said Do Not hold on to it for 100K miles...thus trying to get a few other opinions...Thanks again for your thoughts.

 

When you say block checked, what did they check? Compression, leak down, bore scoped, oil analysis, coolant pressure test, etc? The receipt should be able to tell you what services were performed.

I take it that the engine model number is 2GR-FKS?

Toyota 2GR-FKS Engine Guide - Reliability, Problems, Specs

Learn about Toyota 2GR-FKS engine specs, problems, reliability, and performance. Is the 2GR-FKS a good engine?

tuningpro.co

 

Thank for the reply....But when I purchased the car the Carmax report did not have this not until I signed on to the Lexus Owners account...did it have this. Your questions are important but when asking the Lexus Service writer he said they did a Block Check and it passed. Next time I will ask your specific questions. I am just concerned a Aluminum V-6 engine overheated and the longevity is a concern.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

I'm not sure if the OEM setup fer yer engine has overheat tabs or not. Probably wouldn't hurt to look.

Overheat Indicating Melt Tabs: The Whole Story

The melt tabs we put on all the cylinder heads and rebuilt engine long blocks are just the messengers reporting the truth: If they are melted, the engine was overheated. They are just the GoWesty messengers, and should not be shot! Hopefully, this article will shed some light on how these melt...

gowesty.com

.

 

Thanks for the Reply but this is way over my head....all I can say again Lexus said they did a Block Check and all was OK....wouldn't they have checked that?