Car broke down, any advice?

[cambridgeho]

@kosar_for_president said:

What up people.

My brother was driving my car going to Columbus. The temperature spiked and started blowing smoke out the back. He parked the car and it would not restart. Any ideas from the mechanically inclined. Radiator?

It's getting towed now.

If its blowing smoke its going to be an issue with the oil and possibly worn piston rings, if it was an older car with high miles, that my guess. If its carburated then that could be an issue too. The restart might be the battery or alternator or starter. If it turns but dont start it could be a fuel pump issue. I would just check the oil for fuel or anything thats milky. Change your oill and oil filter. If its fuel injected then you can also add some injector cleaner to your gas tank. Good luck with all this crap. The Mechanics are going to screw you anyway, so you should just trouble shoot what you can.

[Kosar_For_President]

@cambridgeho said:

If its blowing smoke its going to be an issue with the oil and possibly worn piston rings, if it was an older car with high miles, that my guess. If its carburated then that could be an issue too. The restart might be the battery or alternator or starter. If it turns but dont start it could be a fuel pump issue. I would just check the oil for fuel or anything thats milky. Change your oill and oil filter. If its fuel injected then you can also add some injector cleaner to your gas tank. Good luck with all this crap. The Mechanics are going to screw you anyway, so you should just trouble shoot what you can.

From what I am reading, it could be the head gasket. The coolant leaks into the crack and causes the smoke. I am taking it to Drelishak's. In business 60 years and my brother used to know the family a long time ago. Great reviews. They seem fair.

[Pumpkin Eater]

Sounds like a head gasket or something. Let's hope the block itself isn't cracked.

[Speedyd900rr]

It could be any number of things but I would go with a head gasket or a water pump. What kind of car is it? Make sure the car cools back down then refil the radiator fluid, try to start it, and check for leaks. Check the oil to because another sign of a bad head gasket is chocolate milk looking oil from the radiator fluid mixing with it.

[Mr. T]

What color was the smoke? Was the radiator dry? or was it full and did it have oil floating in the top?

[Mr. T]

Has anyone ever experienced someone putting gasoline with 2 cycle oil in a car? My son grabbed the wrong gas can at night and dumped chainsaw mixed gas into his explorer. after draining the tank changing the fuel filter and sparkplugs we still cannot get the car to start.

Any suggestions?

[cambridgeho]

@mr.-t said:

Has anyone ever experienced someone putting gasoline with 2 cycle oil in a car? My son grabbed the wrong gas can at night and dumped chainsaw mixed gas into his explorer. after draining the tank changing the fuel filter and sparkplugs we still cannot get the car to start.

Any suggestions?

Try a shot or 2 of ether in the intake. It won't hurt anything.

[Mr. T]

@cambridgeho said:

Try a shot or 2 of ether in the intake. It won't hurt anything.

We did that and it ran for a minute until we stepped on the gas to increase the idle.

[calfoxwc]

I was was on a drive across Ohio, when I stopped and got gas

at a truck stop/gas station - I was tired. Another car had stopped with me, - it was the car I had been talking to

with a couple of gals driving my way, so I got to meet them.

About a mile down the road from there, my Pinto stationwagon started backfiring,

bucking like a wild horse, and would only go about 5 mi an hour.

I was on my cb talking with them,

When I mentioned to them I had car trouble, and I'd maybe catch them later,

they mentioned they'd stop and driving me back to the truck stop, and that I could get my diesel engine worked on there.

I said "diesel???"

So, I had put diesel engine in my 2.0 Pinto engine. Well, a guy from the truck stop came out with a couple of gal gas cans, and we drained it out.

And the gals bought me 5 gals of gas, regular, and I was good to go, tipped the guy a ten, but he wouldn't take it,

and paid the gals back. They even followed me back to the gas station where I filled it up and we all stated on our trips again...

So, we were off once again, But they kept laughing about it for a good while, and thought they'd never run out of jokes.

dammit.

So, K, you could have had a blown head gasket, but maybe also a clogged, dirty old PVC vavle, depending on the age of your car...

and maybe a thermostat finally corroded and went bad on you.

and T,

I don't know, if you have injectors, that could be bad? ?But I would think after repeated tries, it would clean itself up and run fine.

[Kosar_For_President]

Thanks for all the replies. My friend is a engineer and an ex-mechanic and he said he was 95% sure it's a head gasket. It's a 2003 Civic with a perfect track record, a southern car. Maintained excellently. The smoke was greyish. My brother was using my car because his is power steering is out. Worst case it's a $1200 job, car is worth $4000, so I'll fix it. He knows a mechanic that might work with me in terms of payments, so we'll see.

What's the difference if the block has a crack and if it's a head gasket?

Which means I'm selling all my music equipment. Anyone in the market for drums, bass, Pro Tools M-Box Pro, nice mic? I'll never sell my 73' Guild unless I am about to be homeless, lol. Which might be soon. Steve you might like the Pro-Tools M-Box?

I also got some nice furniture. Cherry dresser set, an oak table with 6 chairs and a leaf.

I guess it can only get better from here?

[Kosar_For_President]

@mr.-t said:

Has anyone ever experienced someone putting gasoline with 2 cycle oil in a car? My son grabbed the wrong gas can at night and dumped chainsaw mixed gas into his explorer. after draining the tank changing the fuel filter and sparkplugs we still cannot get the car to start.

Any suggestions?

T, some answers I found.

I have great news for you; adding 2 cycle gas, gas mixed with 2-stroke oil will hurt nothing whatsoever so you have nothing to worry about. The 2-cycle gas will lubricate the valves and cylinder walls and wont fould sparkplugs any more that it would used in a 2 cycle engine. I've even read that adding some 2 cycle oil to your gas tank for a four-stroke engine once in awhile is good for the longevity of an engine as it lubes things up the way it does in a 2 cycle engine. Just run it and don't worry about it; there will be no harm done.

Source(s):

I read car and 4-wheeler magazines all the time and have seen an occaisional article about the benefits of an occaisional small bottle of 2-cycle oil mixed in with gasoline for a 4 cycle engine to lube the valves, so everything's fine, Emilee. Smile, and have a nice day.

And.

Two cycle fuel is just gasoline with oil added. Shouldn't do more than fowl the plug as mentioned. Add more straight gas will dilute it. one tank of fuel shouldn't do any permanent damage. It will smoke while it burns it out.

Now cranking and starting are two different things. Cranking is turning over. Does the engine turn over when you hit the start button? If it does it is cranking. Not starting, the engine turns over but doesn't run. two different symptoms, different causes.

If it is not cranking, it is not the fuel. could be battery or starter or engine. If it is not starting, could be fouled plug or fuel filter. Pull the plugs, clean or replace it, set the gap and try again

[cambridgeho]

@kosar_for_president said:

Thanks for all the replies. My friend is a engineer and an ex-mechanic and he said he was 95% sure it's a head gasket. It's a 2003 Civic with a perfect track record, a southern car. Maintained excellently. The smoke was greyish. My brother was using my car because his is power steering is out. Worst case it's a $1200 job, car is worth $4000, so I'll fix it. He knows a mechanic that might work with me in terms of payments, so we'll see.

What's the difference if the block has a crack and if it's a head gasket?

Which means I'm selling all my music equipment. Anyone in the market for drums, bass, Pro Tools M-Box Pro, nice mic? I'll never sell my 73' Guild unless I am about to be homeless, lol. Which might be soon. Steve you might like the Pro-Tools M-Box?

I also got some nice furniture. Cherry dresser set, an oak table with 6 chairs and a leaf.

I guess it can only get better from here?

My buddy is a honda engine guru, he said it would cost you about 500 to fix it yourself. There is alot that goes into it, but he also said there could be a lot more damage to it then just a blown gasket, it could have warp the head too, and that would mess a bunch of shit up. Good luck with this man.

[Mr. T]

@kosar_for_president said:

Thanks for all the replies. My friend is a engineer and an ex-mechanic and he said he was 95% sure it's a head gasket. It's a 2003 Civic with a perfect track record, a southern car. Maintained excellently. The smoke was greyish. My brother was using my car because his is power steering is out. Worst case it's a $1200 job, car is worth $4000, so I'll fix it. He knows a mechanic that might work with me in terms of payments, so we'll see.

What's the difference if the block has a crack and if it's a head gasket?

Which means I'm selling all my music equipment. Anyone in the market for drums, bass, Pro Tools M-Box Pro, nice mic? I'll never sell my 73' Guild unless I am about to be homeless, lol. Which might be soon. Steve you might like the Pro-Tools M-Box?

I also got some nice furniture. Cherry dresser set, an oak table with 6 chairs and a leaf.

I guess it can only get better from here?

My brother inlaw lives in Copley and may be interested in some of your music equipment. I'll give him a call this evening.

[Kosar_For_President]

@mr.-t said:

My brother inlaw lives in Copley and may be interested in some of your music equipment. I'll give him a call this evening.

Sweet man let me know.

[The Gipper]

@kosar_for_president said:

What up people.

My brother was driving my car going to Columbus. The temperature spiked and started blowing smoke out the back. He parked the car and it would not restart. Any ideas from the mechanically inclined. Radiator?

It's getting towed now.

Here is a little known fact: they actually have experts available that could probably answer your questions in this regard. They are called "Mechanics". Some of them are probably even called Mike.

[The Gipper]

@calfoxwc said:

I was was on a drive across Ohio, when I stopped and got gas

at a truck stop/gas station - I was tired. Another car had stopped with me, - it was the car I had been talking to

with a couple of gals driving my way, so I got to meet them.

About a mile down the road from there, my Pinto stationwagon started backfiring,

bucking like a wild horse, and would only go about 5 mi an hour.

I was on my cb talking with them,

When I mentioned to them I had car trouble, and I'd maybe catch them later,

they mentioned they'd stop and driving me back to the truck stop, and that I could get my diesel engine worked on there.

I said "diesel???"

So, I had put diesel engine in my 2.0 Pinto engine. Well, a guy from the truck stop came out with a couple of gal gas cans, and we drained it out.

And the gals bought me 5 gals of gas, regular, and I was good to go, tipped the guy a ten, but he wouldn't take it,

and paid the gals back. They even followed me back to the gas station where I filled it up and we all stated on our trips again...

So, we were off once again, But they kept laughing about it for a good while, and thought they'd never run out of jokes.

dammit.

So, K, you could have had a blown head gasket, but maybe also a clogged, dirty old PVC vavle, depending on the age of your car...

and maybe a thermostat finally corroded and went bad on you.

and T,

I don't know, if you have injectors, that could be bad? ?But I would think after repeated tries, it would clean itself up and run fine.

Uhm, gotta ask this question. Did you and the two gals then end up in a menage a trois? I mean, that would be the perfect ending to your story, wouldn't it?

[Kosar_For_President]

It's the head gasket for sure. They are not sure if the block was cracked, but my brother didn't hear a ping when it went just smoke, so all in all decent news.

p.s. Finally got a f*cking job and no car. Start Monday. It'll work out. One thing good in Cleveland is family and friends.

[calfoxwc]

No, we never managed any kind of trois @@ GGG, but they were great road friends to have.

They did keep teasing me after we were down the road, about having snuck across the road and taken a picture of me

while I was changing clothes from my AF dress blues (left straight from the base) to civies.

I wondered the whole trip if they were just kidding. They did have a camera with them - they took a picture of the truck stop LOL.

We'll never know.

[The Gipper]

@calfoxwc said:

No, we never managed any kind of trois @@ GGG, but they were great road friends to have.

They did keep teasing me after we were down the road, about having snuck across the road and taken a picture of me

while I was changing clothes from my AF dress blues (left straight from the base) to civies.

I wondered the whole trip if they were just kidding. They did have a camera with them - they took a picture of the truck stop LOL.

We'll never know.

Dude...you F**KED UP. You coulda had em both right on the freeking hood of the car. A lost opportunity for sure. oy!

[Mr. T]

@kosar_for_president said:

It's the head gasket for sure. They are not sure if the block was cracked, but my brother didn't hear a ping when it went just smoke, so all in all decent news.

p.s. Finally got a f*cking job and no car. Start Monday. It'll work out. One thing good in Cleveland is family and friends.

How did it work out? The new job