So, I posted it in my thread, but I've been doing a lot of thinking of what this new problem may be. While out for a nice highway cruise, suddenly something felt... Wrong... So I tapped the accelerator and I just felt a vibrating feel, and the car had no pull after that. Immediately after, the gauges went haywire and the dash lit up like the fourth of July. Pulled over and immediately noticed the smoke coming from under the hood. Popped it open and noticed steam billowing out between the intake manifold and the engine block, and it reeked of coolant. Getting it checked out tomorrow at the shop, but what do you think it could be? I was thinking a blown gasket and the engine just locked up, but not seized. If it's seized, then it's time for a new car for me :/. However, since I was looking for an opportunity to take apart the engine and do a rebuild my way, this may have just opened up that door, as well... So, what do you think it could be? Has this happened to any of you?

 

Did the engine outright kill and stop dead in it's tracks, or did it chug to a stop?
Did you try turning the engine over after it quit?
Does the engine turn over now?

 

could be plastic elbow, intake gasket maybe a hose. sometimes when something like that goes it squirts all over so its hard to tell right away where its from. also gets wiring and sensors wet so im sure that was some of the issue.

 

It's kind of hard to remember if the engine stopped dead, or just ground to a halt. I pulled over and shut it down before doing anything else, just in case there was any damage internally. No, I didn't try to turn over the engine afterwards. I learned that lesson the hard way with my first car, an '89 Maxima.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I had a hunch on what that vibration feel could have been when I pressed the accelerator. I was thinking it was the camshaft spinning in the block, but the crank wasn't turning, which is why I had no acceleration. Possible?

 

Well no, that's not possible since the crank is what turns the cam. Like craby, I too was thinking the spraying coolant may have been shorting out something related to your ignition. Running one or two cylinders less from the ignition getting wet and grounded is certainly enough to give you bad vibrations. Of course, with you there and us here, all we can do is suppose (didn't want to say "assume" for obvious reasons).

 

Trying to crank a motor over once in cooled down will not hurt anything, or I guess I should say if it does hurt anything it does not matter because the motor is already done for. Check your oil to make sure it is not milk shake color. If you want to you can also check the oil for metal. Look on the dip stick for metal flakes, they should be shinny and small. Don’t let it start but just cranking it with the starter. Listen to how it sounds, if there is no coolant or metal in the coolant and it sound good cranking continue with the coolant repair. Pressure test before restarting.

In the worst case, the motor overheats the pistons swelled up and seized in the cylinders. This will scar the cylinder walls and pistons but in most cases the car is then drivable once it cools down. Most of the time when major engine failure happens it is because the motor has a weak spot, a head gasket about to blow anyway to a bearing with too much clearance and the overheating just pushes the weakness over the edge.

Based on odds Craby’s predicted scenario would be the most common cause.

Note: if there is a small amount of metal in the oil no need to freak out. If the pistons seized then a small amount is not a big deal, Change you oil, open up you filter and see what is inside. I have seen cars run for a very long time after overheating badly. In some caes I found a lot of metal in the filters but the motor just kepted going.

 

I checked the oil while I was pulled over, and didn't notice anything wrong. Oil was changed only ~1,000 miles ago. I did check the coolant dipstick, and it looked covered in thick black sludge on the bottom. Which worries me considering I changed the coolant after the throttle body incident

 

Maybe I was just paranoid after all. Just got back from the shop, and it seems they resolved the issue. Mind you, I'm holding my breath on this one, granted my past history with this car. It seems the fault point was a plastic coolant elbow going to the intake manifold. He told me they tore apart the engine to check for internal damage, and they let it run for a while to make sure it was good (This was evidenced by me seeing the heat and A/C ***** cranked way up, and the inside of the car feeling like a pressure cooker). I'll still wait it out, as the car died out while I was driving, not standing still

 

He did that in one day and did not charge you $3000. That is a pretty neat trick.

 

We've been going to this shop for years, they almost never charge us labor for anything. Plus the tow, this little setback cost me only ~$480