Blew The Radiator, New Problem Came Along...

[DRavenS13]

Ok so about 2 Tuesdays ago, I was driving home and my radiator blew out. I kinda knew it was coming, so that was my fault. The problem is, after it blew, my RPMs dropped and the car turned off, and when I tried to turn it on again, it only cranks but the engine won't turn over. I've had a few different opinions about what happened, like maybe the starter solenoid, or worst-case senario, blown head gasket. I'm doing the compression test possibly tomorrow to make sure it wasn't that.

Any opinions on what it could be? Thanks.

[drifter808]

how did you know your radiator was gonna blow up?

[!Zar!]

You madam have a blown headgasket.

Have fun.

[drifter808]

yeah i was thinking he had a blown headgasket. it doesn't sound right to have a radiator blow up.

[Neejay]

RPM's dropping and not cranking = headgasket. Damn.

[RPS1392]

Blown headgaskets somtimes cause unusally high cooling system pressure. If the radiator was week to begin with, could cause a blown seam, or worse.

[Irukandji]

yay for blown head gaskets.

[i-love-my-s14]

Sounds like the headgasket, exactly what happened to me.

[DRavenS13]

I knew the radiator was gonna blow because when I bought the car, it had a teeny-tiny hole in the radiator. When I opened the hood, it was all exploded from one side where the hole was located, exploded meaning there was orange fluid crap everywhere. I checked the oil, and it still looks good, no gooey milkshake factor.

The engine does crank, but it just doesn't turn over. From what I've been told, it may just be the starter that got messed up from the fluid leaking into it. I'm hoping to GOD it's not the head gasket, but I'll find out by tomorrow.

[chrisstroud]

The engine does crank, but it just doesn't turn over. From what I've been told, it may just be the starter that got messed up from the fluid leaking into it. I'm hoping to GOD it's not the head gasket, but I'll find out by tomorrow.
If it's cranking at an adequete speed, it's not gonna be the starter.
When you say "It won't turn over", do you just mean that it won't fire over and start?
You should run a compression test, buying a compression tester at Autozone will be cheaper than having a shop diagnose it, and you can do it yourself if you know how to change plugs.

[Neejay]

yeah, as chrisstroud said, do a compression and/or leakdown test.

[DRavenS13]

Yep, blown head gasket. My starter was blown out too, and i fixed that already. Thanks guys.

[!Zar!]

Yep, blown head gasket. My starter was blown out too, and i fixed that already. Thanks guys.
Welcome to the club.

The hg in one of my s14's is blown.

I just too lasy to do anything about it, so it's currently sitting in the driveway~

[DRavenS13]

I can't afford to be lazy about it, it's my daily driver, so I gotta fix it soon as humanly possible.

[s13_gearhead]

Welcome to the club.

The hg in one of my s14's is blown.

I just too lasy to do anything about it, so it's currently sitting in the driveway~

Y'know Zar, the longer you wait the more catastrophic damage you're going to be doing to that engine. If a few of your cylinders filled with water and the liquid inside them is currently working on etching a nice lil rust ring around your barrels, that engine is gonna be f*cked. Get off your ass and fix that HG asap dude.

[Neejay]

Y'know Zar, the longer you wait the more catastrophic damage you're going to be doing to that engine. If a few of your cylinders filled with water and the liquid inside them is currently working on etching a nice lil rust ring around your barrels, that engine is gonna be f*cked. Get off your ass and fix that HG asap dude.
Yeah, Ive heard of that too.

[gotta240]

dang..s13gearhead is on his ish...

DEFF wanna get that water out of the cylinder walls.... if you ABSOLUTLY must wait, you might even consider filling it with oil untill you can get around to it..... 1/2 oil 1/2 water = a little less rust...lol.

[mufasa]

coolant does have or at least it should have anti corrsion additive, it should not make it rust. However old or heavily used/improperly mixed coolant will allow rust.