- This topic has 25 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by
.
-
Topic
-
Hello so my girlfriend’s car a 2001 Toyota Camry and has a cracked radiator. The crack is on the top of the radiator, on the plastic. Her dad took it to the mechanic and they said that head gasket is broken, it happened because there was too much pressure in the radiator. The engine never overheated and there have been no problems with engine power or starting the car even when the car is still warm. Her oil level is fine and I didn’t notice any engine oil in the radiator fluid. Could a cracked radiator cause a busted head gasket?
-
Replies
-
[quote=”Smertz” post=40886]Combustion leak test with a block tester whoops lol. So did the test and the liquid didn’t change color. Car has been running fine and there hasn’t been any missing coolant.[/quote]
Thats great news. B)
How have I never heard of a block tester? I’ve been workin on cars for 18 years now. You learn something new every day I guess. lol
Glad you figured it out. There is no way a head gasket would cost $2000. I have changed quite a few head gaskets on toyotas and it normally only takes about 4 or 5 hour. And that includes all the post job system checks.
[quote=”thisisbuod” post=41158]Glad you figured it out. There is no way a head gasket would cost $2000. I have changed quite a few head gaskets on toyotas and it normally only takes about 4 or 5 hour. And that includes all the post job system checks.[/quote]
Did I miss something? It’s not figured out yet, and he still has broken two rads from excessive pressure in a couple of years. I would want a definite answer to this before having to pay for a third rad next year. It could be something simple like a bad thermostat or cap or water pump. And I guess we can’t exclude the possibility that the aftermarket rad was defective. But I still haven’t heard the full explanation as to why a qualified mechanic who examined the vehicle was described as thinking it’s a bad head….
Yeah this isn’t figured out, we just know there is a mechanic who is either making things up, or inept.
First I would start by replacing the radiator cap unless its already been replaced with the new rad. Because if the valve on the cap goes it wont be able to release the extra pressure. Then second i would look into the thermostat. If its not opening then you’ll once again run into a over boil or over pressure situation. Maybe do a boil test on the stove or something.
As mentioned before if you don’t find the root cause and fix the problem your going to run into more problems and more radiators down the road.
Ya this isn’t fixed yet I still haven’t figured out what caused it in the first place. I am waiting for my cousin the mechanic to have time to check out the car.
Looking over the previous posts, stress comes to mind. If it is not overheating and the pressure cap is good then perhaps the radiator is in a mechanical bind. Inspect the mounting devices to insure that no undue stress is being exerted on the radiator.
Air in the cooling system. Broken plastic tanks on radiators are not all that uncommon, I see it a lot. What I also see a lot is when something like a radiator is replaced the cooling system is not properly purged of air. If this is not done then the air will superheat inside the system and cause problems like broken radiator tanks. I would suggest you bleed the system and recheck for any problems. Don’t worry if you don’t have a bleeder valve, but do everything else in the video to ensure you’ve bled all the air out.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.