Overheating + Severe Oil Leak

[CowPimp]

Okay, so I'm driving down the highway the other day and all the sudden I hear a loud pop and my engine starts billowing up white smoke; I looked down and the car had overheated (Obviously). I immediately turn off the car and pulled onto the shoulder. I popped my hood and found the upper radiator blown and coolant everywhere. That smoke was white, it was definitely the coolant.

I come back to my car a few hours later and fill up the coolant, duct tape the radiator hose and get back on the road just to make it to the nearest gas station. Well, a couple miles into my journey the car starts to overheat again, but I pull over as soon as I see it rising. I come to find out my car has a TERRIBLE oil leak. I mean the area in the middle of the bay right next to the engine if ####ing doused in oil. I have a friend come and bring me oil and I keep driving and every mile or so pulling over and letting the engine cool and checking the oil. He said if you were behind me you could see the oil spewing out the bottom.

I finally made it to the gas station, and hopefully I didn't #### up my car more. They called me this morning and said that, obviously, it needs a new upper radiator hose, but also they have to replace that so they can pressure test the system. They want to see if the head gasket is leaking and also to check if coolant is mixing with the oil. They also said the water pump is leaking and think that needs replaced. They have yet to determine the deal with this oil leak, and are claiming it's not hardly leaking right now.

I'm just curious if anyone has guesses at to what can cause a massive oil leak and overheating all at the same time? Does this sound like the headgasket is leaking? Could the water pump failing and causing an overheat have led to warping the headgasket? Any ideas would be appreciated. I want to go into this a little more knowledgeable so I don't get burned by some dickface mechanic. Thanks in advance.

 

[majik2k5]

If the bolts on your automatic tensioner have come loose, you'll end up losing oil as fast as you can pour it in. When my came loose, I lost almost 2 or 3 quarts of oil in about 3 or 4 minutes.

 

[GTM]

...
I'm just curious if anyone has guesses at to what can cause a massive oil leak and overheating all at the same time? Does this sound like the headgasket is leaking? Could the water pump failing and causing an overheat have led to warping the headgasket? Any ideas would be appreciated. I want to go into this a little more knowledgeable so I don't get burned by some dickface mechanic. Thanks in advance.

It's difficult to say with certainty which came first, however, it's my guess that the water pump was leaking causing the engine to run hot and burst the hose. At some point with the engine you had increased blowby the piston rings the dipstik blew out (common problem with worn engines) enough to allow large quantaties of oil to escape. During the course of repairs the dipstick is reseated and you have no more oil leak. The water pump may not be leaking so that's a guess for you had coolant contaminating everything and may just be residual pockets draining.

When you filled the cooling system you did not purge the air from the heater core (a very common mistake) thus an incomplete fill; the air expands and forces the coolant out and the car overheats again. There is a very real possibility the headgasket if not blown could now be blown and the same could be said of the water pump. You could have had a thermostat fail which instigated all of this sequence, so you have to start somewhere and deal with the obvious, then advance to the next step etc.

Regardless of your unflattering remarks about mechanics, hopefully they know what they are doing and provide you with a proper diagnosis and prognosis. Amazing that you rarely hear such harsh words describing a Doctor who's job is no diffrent than ours except his patients talk to him. We on the other hand have to play Sherlock Homes and make judgment calls of what you the car owner did or fiailed to do. In both cases a good working knowledge of the cause and effect makes the day, it would be foolish to slap a hose on it, fill with coolant, make the sign and roll it out the drive.

What you should have done was fill the coolant, turn the heater to high and verify you had heat and water circulating, adding as needed before replacing the cap and driving off the first time.

You have the option of allowing them to repair the hose and properly fill the cooling system so you can drive it home and do your own diagnosis or get a second opinion.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[CowPimp]

They are telling me the headgasket is blown. They are quoting some insane amount of $1500. I called ExtremeMotorsports, who charges like $90+ an hour for labor and they quoted $1200-1300 to do the headgasket and replace my timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, etc. (I have those parts already), and that's including milling the head if necessary. So, this place is a ripoff anyway. I'm still deciding if this is worth it or not. I appreciate your responses though. I'm still not sure what to do; I may attempt to fix it myself and just have EMS mill the head or something.

 

[FlatBlackTerror]

They are telling me the headgasket is blown. They are quoting some insane amount of $1500. I called ExtremeMotorsports, who charges like $90+ an hour for labor and they quoted $1200-1300 to do the headgasket and replace my timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, etc. (I have those parts already), and that's including milling the head if necessary. So, this place is a ripoff anyway. I'm still deciding if this is worth it or not. I appreciate your responses though. I'm still not sure what to do; I may attempt to fix it myself and just have EMS mill the head or something.

If your trust your mechanical abilities and have a good set of tools and a manual, your best bet would be to just do it yourself. Its not insanely hard, its just time consuming. There are a few ways to check for a blown headgasket: Check for coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant. Leak down test, take off the radiator cap and look for air bubble. Those are just 2 ways, im sure their are more, But they should be sufficient to find out whether or not its blown. Luck

 

[GTM]

They are telling me the headgasket is blown. They are quoting some insane amount of $1500. I called ExtremeMotorsports, who charges like $90+ an hour for labor and they quoted $1200-1300 to do the headgasket and replace my timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, etc. (I have those parts already), and that's including milling the head if necessary. So, this place is a ripoff anyway. I'm still deciding if this is worth it or not. I appreciate your responses though. I'm still not sure what to do; I may attempt to fix it myself and just have EMS mill the head or something.

I have no idea if the shop is a ripoff, one place may be quoting for new parts prices and another for rebuilt parts. Some places may under quote just to get you in the door and then call as required by law to advise you that you need to spend more money. Unless they are equipped with a fiber optic boroscope as I have they can't tell you if the cylinder walls are scored and you need a ring and piston job.

I've heard customers suggest that I was ripping them off, my response was to invite them to tow the car out for nobody needs an unhappy customer for the job is hard enough without additional attitudes. Essentially under Calif law if the car drove in then it should drive out, if you have them tear down for inspection they are permitted to charge for that labor and any new necessary gaskets, seals, and shop supplies. They can disclaim any and all problems that are still suspect and by law you are required to sign that you have been advised of any potential danger to car or potential accident.

The headgasket replacement is well within the scope of a DIY job. Realize that it can take a novice 1-2 weeks of the car being down as various parts have to be inspected, parts located, ordered, possible machine shop work etc.

Water in the oil, oil in the water nor bubbles are not absolutes, it would be best to have a chemical or electronic block check performed. When combined with a proper compression check you will have a much better idea of the problems.

It is conceivable that just retorquing the head bolts will stop or slow the leaking headgasket down. What needs to be determined is what is most cost effective now the horses are out of the barn.

Cheers,
GTM