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You are here: Experts > Industry > Transportation and Logistics > Automotive > 1995 Toyota Camry - 2ns email
Automotive - 1995 Toyota Camry - 2ns email
Expert: Sean Halliday - 10/6/2008
Question
Radiator replaced twice within 2 years. Got it back after 2nd radiator and new water pump was put in and car overheated first time driven. On the side of the road, opened hood and hose had split. Shop had replaced oil cooler hose and upper radiator hose but not this one. I replaced the hose that evening after taking 3 hours to go 10 miles, pulling over ever minute or so to keep it as cool as possible. Everything seemed to be fine. Next day car overheated again - I replaced the thermostat and the car was fine for 2 days. Then the overheating started again. Took the car back to the shop and after having it for more than a week we were just told that there was a blown head gasket. I'm quite upset to say the least because if I had known this prior to spending $1500 for the radiator/water pump and prior to being told it would be another $1700 for a complete fix I would not have made the decision to have the radiator/water pump replaced. Should the head gasket being blown been obvious when a car with a split radiator comes in for repair after the same shop replaced the radiator 2 years earlier? Should the mechanic at least checked the head gasket for damage? Forgot to mention freeze plugs (one behind wp housing and three behind manifold) had also blown when the radiator split.
Answer
All Japanese cars and most modern engines run hot,at almost 90c.Sometimes more so(120c). There is a fine line between normal and overheat and when the engine runs in the red the alloy expands(warps) beyond the tolerance so its almost certain to destroy the head gasket except in a very few cases such as newer engines.As your car is a 1995,it would have been a good idea to do a leak down test especially if it was brought to a shop for overheating.I always ask if the car ran into the red in these cases as it is an easy way to say for sure that the gasket is blown.Its best to check before spending all that money on components and then finding as you did that the gasket was blown.So was the shop negligent?I would say yes.One reason for not checking the gasket and for also not replacing all the hoses that looked suspect.Its better to be sure than to say maybe it will be ok.The fact this engine blew out the "freeze"plugs tells me this engine has major damage and would be best to have it checked at a machine shop for how much warp is in the head.I have seen engines so badly warped that the head is too out of tolerance to be reused.Also,im wondering why you went through 2 radiators in 2 years?If it were my customer i would be looking for a good used engine and junk this one.
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