My 240 blew up! Good God! HELP!

[XxDriverxX]

Oh, god.. where do I start..

I was driving home from work, all of the sudden I see blue smoke coming from the bottom of my car and my car seemed to be sluggish. I stop the car, look under the hood and feel the engine REAL hot with smoke coming from what looked to be the tranny or the bottom of the engine.

It was 5 am in the morning so i decided to ride it off. A few minutes later, it got worse. My car started to make a tricking noise and it just stopped. The engine turned off and God damnit I almost hit the person infront of me cause the breaks turned off as well.

I get out the car, and smoke wass coming out like a MOFO. Engine was burning hot. I was about 2 km away from my house. I wait for 10 minutes for it to cool down, start it up again, it starts but there is that ricking noise again.

As I'm driving the ticking gets louder and more often. I turn into my house and the second i put it on park, car stops and turns off. Smoke everywhere and that noise wokeup the entire neighbourhood.

Tranny? :(

Oh God.. :bash: :cry:

[XxDriverxX]

2 hours later..

I just checked again.

Car starts up fine, noise is very low.. Engine is EXTREAMLY hot, so hot that the sparkplug wires are melting :(

Reverse/Drive works ok.. Radiator fluid is ok, engine oil is ok.. Stupid me forgot to check the tranny oil..

[XxDriverxX]

Hmm.. tranny fluid looks/smells good.

Engine oil smells burnt, real bad..

Head gasket?

Someone please help before I take it in!

[uiuc240]

it's VERY likely that you overheated and very bad things happened. i would not advise driving it any longer. get it to a shop and have them check it out. they can do a leakdown and compression test, and they can also pressure test the cooling system. if there are leaks in the head gasket, those will find it. that smoke could have been coming from a coolant leak, but it could also have been coming from a bad oil leak. how is your level?

if you say your tranny fluid looks good/smells good, i assume you have an automatic? if not, you're not checking tranny fluid....

Eric

p.s. brakes never 'turn off'...they might lose power assist and become harder to press, but they work even when the car is off.

[mrmephistopheles]

is your oil light on? whats your oil level? is your oil pan dented?

[mbmbmb23]

Could it be his coolant is not circulating properly??






-m

[boosteds14]

is the ticking noise louder when you lay on ground and sounds like it is coming from the oil pan? Or is it coming from the Head?

if you take the oil cap off when the engine is hot, is there any smoke that comes out of the oil cap?

How is your temp gauge?

Does the ticking noise go away when the RPM's rise or get worse?

[XxDriverxX]

Thanks for the help guys.

Oil level is good, but like i said it smells burnt. Never seen it like that.

Car drives ok but after 5-10 minutes of driving, all this starts to happen.

Yes my car is automatic and the trannyn fluid level/smell is good.

As I remember, the noise gets louder on first/second gear at low RPM. The noise is coming from under the engine no where near the top.

Oil cap: Took me a while to take it of cause it was almost melted but yes, smoke does come out and the engine head is burning hot.

Temp. levels are ok. I had a radiator leak a few days ago that kept over heating my car so I went out and fixed it now this started to happen.

I'd love to take it to a mechanic now but I have work every day and I cant take days off. Now I'm driving my dad's tercel :(

[XxDriverxX]

Oh, I also wanted to mention.. There was BIG loss of power in my car and when I took the sparkplugg wires off to check them, they smelled real bad and one of them had lots of brown stuff on it.

[nokeone]

now would be a good time to throw in an engine swap if you had ever considered one..:)..

sorry to hear all that..:(

[XxDriverxX]

Thats the thing.. Am I sure it's not the tranny? I don't mind if it's the engine, I wanna replace that POS anyways, it's got 250k's on it.

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
Thats the thing.. Am I sure it's not the tranny? I don't mind if it's the engine, I wanna replace that POS anyways, it's got 250k's on it.

well see, that's the thing..i don't see the tranny causing smoke to come out of the oil filler hole in your head..nor causing your car to run that hot...that strikes me as an engine issue..

you could have possible caused damage a couple days ago when you were leaking coolant and over heating...this residual damage could be now showing itself and causing your engine to do this..

[tiki240]

It sounds like you tweaked your water pump bud. gathering that from the whirrings sound and power loss. and since fluid levels read normal... i suggest you check that. if it turns out to be that it shouldnt be too bad. just pull the belt and then take off the water pump. hope that helps.

[tiki240]

oh and check your fan clutch. it my be frozen in the unengaged position.

[nokeone]

Originally posted by tiki240
It sounds like you tweaked your water pump bud. gathering that from the whirrings sound and power loss. and since fluid levels read normal... i suggest you check that. if it turns out to be that it shouldnt be too bad. just pull the belt and then take off the water pump. hope that helps.

yeah that is a possibility..the reason i was saying engine is cause if it did in fact seize and he overheated his car as he said...then he may have done internal damage by driving it in the state he has..

[XxDriverxX]

Umm.. This is weird.

Today, 24 hours later, i woke up to take my car to the mechanic and started it up, starts up fine, like a dream.. I drove for 15 minutes till the engine started getting REAL hot again so i decided to drop it off and stop driving.

Yeah so its not the tranny and its not the engine.. Deff. something with the cooling system? Water pump for sure?

Thanks alot for the help guys,.

[ItzGenX]

You might have severely damanged something struggling to keep the thing running/limping home. You might have also damaged it way earlier when you 'used' to have it overheated. The best thing to do is have it taken to a shop to check it out as your situation sounds bad. If the sound is coming from the bottom like you say, it could be like the grease monkeys would say "a rod is knockin". Who knows, you could have warped a lot of stuff due to high heat (melted oil cap?!)

[tiki240]

I would definitely call is your waterpump. just take an hour or so off work DONT START THE CAR. take off belt, drain coolant, unbolt water pumpand check it out. if it is that i have a KA24DE layin around i can give you for like 100bux. or jsut buy one from autozone or sumthin. but the others are valid sayin you prob farked sumthin else up by keep on runnin it. the car would stay cool while runningaround town because of the air passing around it but when you come to a stop its getting ultra hot. check out that water pump and dont drive it again till whatever it is is fixed.
-Tiki

[GatorRX]

I'm with the vote that your waterpump isn't pumping. First things first DON'T DRIVE THE CAR! Start it, pop the hood, and make sure the belts are all turning. I had an idler bearing go bad on an S-10 once, the thing smoked like you wouldn't believe until the accessory drive belt cooked off and broke. If the belts and fan are all turning like they are supposed to, I'd go with the post above that said look at the waterpump, you could have sheared the impeller off inside the motor...

[XxDriverxX]

Thanks guys..

I'm waiting for my mechanic tomorrow. I'll keep u updated.

[drift freaq]

well the way its acting is classic symptoms of a blown head gasket. You may have seen the blue smoke because your head gasket is blown and your engine is so hot your cooking off your oil. Yes it can and does happen. Engines with blown head gaskets can quite often overheat stop running and then when there cool again run. That is of course unless you put water in the radiator at which point it will leak into the the cylinder and cause possible hydraulic lock. Have you been been watching your radiator levels? have you seen steam come out of your radiator when you add water? Have you checked to see if there is water in your oil?
these are all things you should be checking

[XxDriverxX]

Just an update.

I took it to my mechanic. His first thoughts were catylic convertor. We replaced that then the problem didn't seem to go away (allthough I got a huge boost in power). He thought that maybe the convertor was cloged and heating up the engine.

Right now though, we're looking at a tranny that seem to over heat so much that it's putting a huge load on the engine and eventually shutting it off.

I hereby am looking for an Automatic, 1991-1994 Tranny, willing to be shipped to Ottawa, Canada.

Anyone know anybody selling for a decent price? I don't plan to have this car for a while longer.

Thanks all for your help.

[uiuc240]

My first piece of advice?!

DITCH THE MECHANIC

After explaining your issues, he suggested putting on a new cat?! :wtf: And now, after all this, he's suggesting you spend money on a new tranny? You said it yourself, the tranny fluid is good and full. When auto trannies die, the fluid tells the whole story (as does the shifting...or lack thereof).

Your car is overheating. It's as simple as that. You need to CHECK THE THINGS RELATED TO KEEPING YOUR CAR COOL. Those consist of:

1. Radiator
2. Coolant
3. Fan
4. Hoses
5. Thermostat
6. WATER PUMP

If there are air bubbles in the system, it will overheat (and you had a leak before, so you probably have air in the system because you probably didn't bleed it right...did you?) What did you use to *fix* your radiator leak? Radiator "Stop Leak" is about as lame as dumping a bucket of sand in your fuel. I hope you didn't use that.

Get your car away from this grease monkey! He is replacing things that are inconsequential all because it MAKES HIM MONEY!

:hammer: :bash:

OK, I'm calm now. Go get your car to a real shop.

Eric

[XxDriverxX]

haha, thanks for your concern bro.

A few points.

This mechanic has done wonders to my car before. He's a Nissan specialist. This problem seemed to have got to him though. He told me before he replaced my catylatic convertor that there is a good chance it's not the caty.. He told me however it will increase my power regardless.

He did change it and wow, lots of power now, but the problem still hasn't resolved itself.

He charged me NOTHING (cause he's a family friend) to fix my caty. So I can't complain. (I got the parts myself)

He showed me thow, he made me feel the tranny after my engine heated up, it was so freaken hot and the smoke was coming from and that loud ticking noise is coming from the tranny itself. He showed me the water pump and told me if there was anything wrong with it, it'll leak. It wasn't leaking.

So now he's telling me, replace the tranny. It's obvious the sound, heat and smell is coming from there.



As for the radiator leak.. good god, I dont know, it's not leaking anymore. It hasn't leaked a drop ever since the problem started.. which freaks me out.



Here is the signs again before I take it to another mechanic:

- Started with a small leak from the Rad. Car "normally" over heated when the coolant level was down.
- Rad stopped leaking for a good few days after I filled it back up one last time before I was to take it in and fix it
- Car runs excellent for the first 10-15 minutes [7-8km's].
- Lots of heat coming from beneath the car
- Car looses amazing amount of power, then starts to shrug
- Tranny (?) making very loud ticking noised
- Car shuts off, smoke (heat) coming from beneath the engine.
- Car doesnt start again till it cools down.
- Checked oil - Good, smells like burning though.
- Checked Tranny fluid - Smells and looks good
- Checked Radiator - Cold! Not warm at all! (?)
- Checked Engine - VERY HOT!
- Opened oil cap - White smoke coming out
- Car starts to burn oil when its at this state - Alot of it!


God, I'm about to give up on her :( Can anyone do me a huge favour and ask their mechanic before I go to a diff. mechanic and loose money?

Thanks

[kazuo]

I'm with everyone else. Cooling issue and/or head gasket (if it wasnt the head gasket you prolly fried it by now)

First step: Run the car for a few minutes (like 5) and rev it a bit. Touch the LOWER radiator hose (on the left hand side) of the car when youre facing the motor. if the hose is cold then your thermostat is died-ed. replace.

First-and-a-half step: Make sure all the belts and whatnot are going.

Step Two: Replace the water pump. You might as well, its easy to do, its cheap and its probably what is causing you all this trouble.

Step Three: Go to a car shop parts thingy place and get a Compression Tester thingy. Check compression. Cross-ref with what it say in the FSM (dont know for KA) and see if the headgasket is gone. if so replace.

if not you should have fixed the issue by now. drain and refill engine oil/coolant, flush cooling system and refill.

problem solved. hopefully.

you can do all of this yourself. forget the mechanic. shoudlnt take you more than a day to do it (except for the gasket, but ya)

good luck!

ps. if its still broke I have a KA 5-speed i can sell you... 125k and runs strong

[XxDriverxX]

Thanks bro.

but I'm wondering.. Why would the tranny be ticking so loud when the engine heats like that? So much that the car turns off?

What does the headgasket or the waterpump have to do with that?

I'll do what you recommended tomorrow.

[uiuc240]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
haha, thanks for your concern bro.

He showed me the water pump and told me if there was anything wrong with it, it'll leak. It wasn't leaking.

So now he's telling me, replace the tranny. It's obvious the sound, heat and smell is coming from there.

That's only partially right about the water pump. If the SEALS are bad, the weep hole will seep fluid out. But if the impeller is sheared off or the bearings are frozen, nothing will happen.

I'm at a loss about the ticking sound though. Auto trannies are a mystery to me.

Eric

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

Driving your car while Overheating IS BAD......

To the people trying to help you out, it definitely seems like a cooling system problem.....water pump, thermostat etc. I would rather take the safe path and check your water pump, change thermostat, flush cooling system(if you haven't done so already).....even if it isn't your problem, this would be a good thing to do on a car w/ that many miles.

Also....when people try to tell you to do one thing...and you end up doing the opposite, they may be less obliged to help you the next time you have a problem with your car.

[XxDriverxX]

Dude.. I am listning to everyone.. he just said I'll replace your convertor anyways, so he did and it wasnt it. He didnt even charge me.

Regardless.. thanks for the info.

Is there anyways I can manually check the water pump? In detail? before I take it in tomorrow.

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

Pull the belt off...and remove the bolts holding water pump in....you might damage the gasket removing the pump.....so get one at the dealer just in case...get some silicone also.

[DJ Machine]

drive it around the block a couple times, enough for it to warm up but NOT enough to let it get real hot, feel any coolant hoses...the big one on top should be fine, if its not too hot too touch, then obviously theres some coolant problem...either your thermostat is stuck closed or your pump is messed up, or theres air in there.

Actually, just as a test, pull the cap on the radiator and see if theres any space..dump some water in, just to see if it'll take it...i doubt its something as simple as that, but you never know.

[XxDriverxX]

See thats so weird!

When I open up my radiator cap, I see that it actually needs water, I can actually poor in ALOT of water for the RAD to get filled up. Yet when I look at the cylender that stores the backup coolant for the Rad, its full.. wtf?

As for the hoses. They're hot allright..

Still doesnt explain the ticking noise from the tranny when the engine is hot?

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
See thats so weird!

When I open up my radiator cap, I see that it actually needs water, I can actually poor in ALOT of water for the RAD to get filled up. Yet when I look at the cylender that stores the backup coolant for the Rad, its full.. wtf?

As for the hoses. They're hot allright..

Still doesnt explain the ticking noise from the tranny when the engine is hot?

alot of times whne your radiator is empty the overflow reserve bottle will not work properly because it is related to pressure...

[XxDriverxX]

Update:

DAMN!

You were all right. The water pump is leaking AND allthought I had filled the radiator with coolant the night before it was EMPTY with not a single drop of water when I woke up the morning. I had the car stopped for an hour when I drove it to the mechanic, the second we put coolant in there, the pressue that was coming out of the what was cold rad was amazing, it was like a freaking splinker with so much steam coming out!

The second the steam cooled down.. We put a bit more coolant in there and turned on the car.. The water pump WAS leaking and he concluded that the headgasket was blown or is about to blow atleast, due to the heat that the engine had to go through!

We even changed the tranny oil/filter and put some of that special lubrecant in there cause the noise WAS coming from the tranny.

Next step is probably end up getting a new engine/tranny. Doing a headgasket job on such man old engine is not worth it.

Anyone in Canada got a good deal on an engine/tranny combo?

[tiki240]

We rock your grandma.... lol. zilvia.net ownz glad you figured out your problem. i have a ka24de head cams valve cover, so lemme know. late

[Tricky1980]

umm, did anyone mentin to change the thermostat because when my car overheated the very first time it barely overheated, it damaged my thermostat and it wouldnt open anymore which wasnt allowing fluid to rotate around the system.. no coolant was getting into the engine, its like 6.00 and it def worth replacing if you can.. because that is what my problem was AFTER i replaced waterpump... thermostat was still bad... i skimmed everyones replys and didnt see that suggestion
JaY

[XxDriverxX]

Thermostat controls the inflow/outflow of the engine?

Hmm, you guys suggest replacing that along with the waterpump before changing the headgasket and see how things go?

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
Thermostat controls the inflow/outflow of the engine?

Hmm, you guys suggest replacing that along with the waterpump before changing the headgasket and see how things go?

just get an SR..;)..lol but yeah..whenever you have a heat/cooling issue you should replace the T-Stat in addition to other repairs..

good luck

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

Just get a new long/short block and trans...you can find both for about $50 each if you know where to look.

[kazuo]

Ya I suggested checking the thermo (feel the lower rad hose for heat). Along with the pump and some otrher junk... DO NOT toss the motor yet; run a compression test to see where you stand...

I feel like I am repeating myself. Go read my previous post and see what I said!!! :D

Good luck dude

[XxDriverxX]

I can't believe this is happening..

I fixed the water pump and the thermostat, got new ones..My mechanic told me that i still had to fix the head gasket and I should come back later. I drove it off and right when I got home.. "BOOOOOOM!" the top of the radiator (plastic piece) blew up and all the heat came out..

Im so god damn ****ed off :(

Headgasket is gonna cost a fortune isnt it? Is it more feasible to get an engine?

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
I can't believe this is happening..

I fixed the water pump and the thermostat, got new ones..My mechanic told me that i still had to fix the head gasket and I should come back later. I drove it off and right when I got home.. "BOOOOOOM!" the top of the radiator (plastic piece) blew up and all the heat came out..

Im so god damn ****ed off :(

Headgasket is gonna cost a fortune isnt it? Is it more feasible to get an engine?

if you do the headgasket yourself it's actually not that bad cost wise..a whole new gasket set for the car is around $100.00..then just give yourself 2 solid days of labor and a FSM or Haynes and you're cool..i think i spend a total of 11 hours over 2 days to do mine...and it was the first head gasket i had replaced...:)..what's the worst that can happen??..your motor is already $hit..;)..lol

[XxDriverxX]

Is there a step by step intro for people who know jack **** and got no tools?

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
Is there a step by step intro for people who know jack **** and got no tools?

there is a step by step instruction to follow within those manuals..however the lack of tools would be a problem...

if you were feeling ambitious it would be worth the $100 Gasket Set and $150 in tools to do the job...plus you get to keep the tools..;)..and a shop will most likely charge you upwards of $600 for the job...if memory serves..

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

There is a possibility that with you driving it hot and it overheating that you did damage to the head also.

Headwork costs about $180 and a head gasket is about $60.

You can find KA longblocks for $50 that are probably in good condition still......that will save you GOBS of money.

[XxDriverxX]

Hmm.

I'm getting conflicting reports here. One person says it takes 2 days, 11 hours each day.. another says it only takes 100$ worth of labour?

I dont get it.


Allright.. I wanna do this on my own, lol.. who's gonna help me out? I have a digi cam and I'll take pics, step by step and u guys can guide me :D

[DudeYourSoOOJDM]

Buy an FSM.

Factory Service Manual.

...I doubt someone will be willing to walk you through each step....the FSM is easily worth what it costs.

Take your head to a machine shop to get it checked out....

[nokeone]

Originally posted by XxDriverxX
Hmm.

I'm getting conflicting reports here. One person says it takes 2 days, 11 hours each day.. another says it only takes 100$ worth of labour?

I dont get it.


Allright.. I wanna do this on my own, lol.. who's gonna help me out? I have a digi cam and I'll take pics, step by step and u guys can guide me :D

no you read my post wrong...

11 hours over 2 days...which means 11 hours total...over 2 days...not 11 hours each day..that would be insanity...and it was my first one ever...i am confident i could do it in about 7 hours now...:)

and $100 worth of labor...please...dealer book on a head gasket is about 6 hours..6 hours x $95.00 and hour (avg dealer rate) = $570...

so it's not $100 in labor...that i KNOW..