[fnesr]

hey all, i'm new to this site and forum. i've had a mist green 4cylinder auto '89 model camry CS sedan for about four years. last night i was driving home from work and noticed it started to heat (which is strange as this is the first time its ever heated at all since i've owned it). I pulled over and on inspection found that my top hose had split and no longer had any water in the radiator. I had it towed to the closest garage as I couldn't put water in it being so hot and didnt have a hose to replace it. thinking i need a new hose and probally a thermostat or something i went and told the mechanic to go ahead and fix it. he then called me about an hour later and told me the head is stuffed and i'm looking at upto $1200 (australian) to fix it. he said he'll do a temparary fix that will get it going for about two weeks while i work out what to do. the value of the cars only about $3000AUD, I dont know whether to entirely trust the guy and have never had this happen with any car so i'm just after opinions as to whether thats a fair estimate to carry out the work or whether you think i'm being rorted? not knowing anything about heads this fella could pretty much tell me and charge me whatever he wants so any imput at all would be greatly appreiciated.
thanks fnes

 

[amerikim]

Hmm, if he can get it going, I wonder what he is doing. Best to get a second opinion to remove doubt. Also this might be a great time to think about an engine swap.

 

[Lumberg]

If you stopped it before the temp gauge got pegged it's highly doubtful the head was harmed. You can't even tell for sure without taking the head off.

SO replace the upper hose, fill up with water, and drive away from that guy as quickly as you can.

 

[Pineapple]

His head is stuffed. Get away from him.

 

[fnesr]

If you stopped it before the temp gauge got pegged it's highly doubtful the head was harmed. You can't even tell for sure without taking the head off.

SO replace the upper hose, fill up with water, and drive away from that guy as quickly as you can.

he said he pressure tested it? he said some shit about water entering the engine and out the exaust, i'm not that mechanicly minded so i dunno really what hes on about. the temp gauge went upto about three quarters of the way to full and the car started to misfire (kind of tinny noise) as i pulled upto a stop and there was a burning coolant smell?

 

[fnesr]

update: rang him..said he put two lots of "sealer" through it, and its blowing steam out the exaust? said time will tell if it will hold up, so i dunno what to do with it...mabee get another opinion but if i walk in somewhere and say i think the heads stuffed there likely to just say yeah to get the business either way, so undecided, pick it up in an hour so i'll see how it runs, fingers crossed its all sweet.

 

[88 LE]

^ You have a blown headgasket as a result of the engine overheating.

And i'd be weiry of a mechanic that puts sealer in a engine to try and fix probs. :disappoin

The cylinder head needs to be removed and checked out.

 

[Lumberg]

he said he pressure tested it? he said some shit about water entering the engine and out the exaust, i'm not that mechanicly minded so i dunno really what hes on about. the temp gauge went upto about three quarters of the way to full and the car started to misfire (kind of tinny noise) as i pulled upto a stop and there was a burning coolant smell?

assuming he was telling the truth, that's more of a head gasket issue than a head issue, but since you pull the head you definitely check it out thoroughly.

also the misfire you described sounds suspciciously like detonation (air/fuel mixture igniting/burning too fast and exploding while the piston is still moving up) and that spells disaster for an engine. you may have damaged the rings, pistons, and/or rod bearings, or wrist pins for that matter.

of course you never know, I have had a SBC ping for hours while I was on a trip once with no appreciable ill consequences.

Your particular situation could be anywhere from no appreciable damage to one or all of: blown head gasket, warped head, knocked in ring lands, worn rod bearings, etc. so proceed cautiously but optimistically.

 

[fnesr]

i picked the car up last night and it seems to be running perfectly fine for the moment, i'll probally put it in to have someone else look at it at the start of next week and see what they say. someone was telling me i'd be able to tell if its stuffed by water in my oil, the oil would be a greyish colour, they weren't a hundred percent sure on it but, anyone tell me if thats correct?

 

[88 LE]

someone was telling me i'd be able to tell if its stuffed by water in my oil, the oil would be a greyish colour, they weren't a hundred percent sure on it but, anyone tell me if thats correct?

If theres water / antifreeze mixed with the oil it'll look like a chocolate mikeshake.

Water / antifreeze mixed with oil is a sure sign of a blown headgasket.

The headgasket could also blow between a water or oil passage and the piston. Then you'll be burning oil (blue smoke) or water (white smoke).

Anyways you need to have it looked at right away.

 

[fnesr]

i'll check the colour of the oil when i get home this afternoon. thanks heaps to everyone who replied, i much appreiciate it. hopefully the girl will survive without impoverishing me. i'm pretty broke, bad timing for this shit to happen