Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
HomeAnnouncements
Discussion Groups
By Brand
BMWChevroletDodgeFordGMHondaLexusMercedes-BenzNissanPeugeotToyotaVolkswagenOther Brands
By Topic
4x4 CarsRVsDrivingMaintenance & RepairCar AudioCollectible Cars
Country Specific
Australian ForumsUK Forums
ArticlesAuto InsuranceBuyingCars & TechnologyMaintenanceMiscellaneousSafety
DMV Resources
Related Topics
MotorcyclesBoatsMore Topics ...

Car Forum / Toyota / Camry / May 2008

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

2008 Camry (Engine Heat)

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
oommen_senny@yahoo.com - 24 Apr 2008 20:12 GMT
My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
expectation and value.
Yesterday morning after 40 miles, I saw suddenly an engine check
symbol, and while thinking what could be the reason , I saw my heat
indicator needle dropped to zero. Immediately i pulled aside and
stopped my car. Suddenly my wife saw smoke coming from hood. I rushed
out and opened hood.No more smoke. But I found my coolant bottle is
empty. Opened radiator cover after some time . Put water. Steam oozed
out, I continued pouring water till it subsidized. Filled water in
coolant bottle reservoir. After an hour started and no warnings
existed. I took the vehicle to nearby dealer. Told everything. They
checked and replaced engine oil as it was almost due for next change.
Retuned home from office and today morning also came back to office.
Heat level and coolant level same as normal. But I feel slight
sluggishness ( less pulling) .
What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.
Please reply
ransley - 24 Apr 2008 23:03 GMT
On Apr 24, 2:12 pm, oommen_se...@yahoo.com wrote:
> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
> occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.
> Please reply

08 so its under warranty? Likely some serious trouble, aluminum warps
when overheated. Curious, when was coolant checked last, did a toy
dealer work on the car  at all recently.I guess at a minimum the head
will have to be removed and looked into, at worst the motor has
problems.  18000 it should not loose water, at all. Something is
factory defective unless a rock hit the radiator.
hoover - 25 Apr 2008 01:11 GMT
> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
> occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.
> Please reply

Did you actually just add plain water? I'm no expert but I am pretty
sure that you should have it drained and re-fill with the right coolant
mix. And if you did add water and the dealer actually listened to
everything you said then he's a crook to not change the water for
coolant mix.
bungalow_steve@yahoo.com - 27 Apr 2008 01:37 GMT
> Did you actually just add plain water? I'm no expert but I am pretty
> sure that you should have it drained and re-fill with the right coolant
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

plain water is only a problem when it goes below freezing, yes it
should of been replaced with the right coolant mix
ransley - 27 Apr 2008 14:44 GMT
On Apr 26, 7:37 pm, "bungalow_st...@yahoo.com"
<bungalow_st...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> > Did you actually just add plain water? I'm no expert but I am pretty
> > sure that you should have it drained and re-fill with the right coolant
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> plain water is only a problem when it goes below freezing, yes it
> should of been replaced with the right coolant mix

Plain water boils at a low temp, run it hot, turn off the motor and
you might hear it boil in the head, i have on a V8, boiling creates
pressure.
C. E. White - 28 Apr 2008 23:03 GMT
> plain water is only a problem when it goes below freezing, yes it
> should of been replaced with the right coolant mix

Not totally true. From http://www.prestone.com/carcare/faq.php#q3 :

Q. What is the best antifreeze/coolant concentration for a vehicle? Can I
use 100% antifreeze?
A. We recommend that you use between a 50% and 70% concentration of
antifreeze. At least 50% is necessary to give the adequate amount of
corrosion protection, as well as freeze/boilover protection. However, we do
not recommend more than 70% antifreeze. This would cause restriction of the
heat transfer capabilities, corrosion protection, and freeze protection. The
concentration of freeze/boilover protection of the antifreeze mixture can be
checked using a Prestone® Antifreeze Coolant Tester.

So the net is - you need the proper mix to get corrosion protection,
protection againt freezing, efficient heat transfer, and protection against
boil over.

Ed
bungalow_steve@yahoo.com - 30 Apr 2008 16:18 GMT
> <bungalow_st...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Ed

No, maximum heat transfer/boil over protection occurs with 100% water,
it has a higher specific heat capacity  (it's ability to absorb heat
per gram) then pure antifreeze, it's a tradeoff , like everything,
also remember where you got your info from, not exactly impartial. I
agree with the corrosion issue though.
C. E. White - 30 Apr 2008 17:12 GMT
>No, maximum heat transfer/boil over protection occurs with 100%
>water,
> it has a higher specific heat capacity  (it's ability to absorb heat
> per gram) then pure antifreeze, it's a tradeoff , like everything,
> also remember where you got your info from, not exactly impartial. I
> agree with the corrosion issue though.

You are correct about the heat capacity, but I didn't say "maximum." I
said "efficient" in context with the other reasons you need antifreeze
(corrosion protection, lower freezing point, higher boiing point,
etc.) A good summary of the various properties of a water / ethylene
glycol mix is at
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethylene-glycol-d_146.html.

Because the water / ethylene glycol mix has less heat capacity than
water, you need to circulate it through the system at a higher rate to
achieve the same cooling as with pure water. Fortunately, at the
higher temperature of a cooling system, the 50/50 water / ethylene
glycol mixture is less viscous than pure water, which improves the
circulation rate. And as an added bonus, at lower temperatures, the
viscosity is greater, which reduces the speed of circulation,
improving warm up time. A win-win...

I think the net is - your car was designed for a water / antifreeze
mix. That is what you should use.

Ed
ransley - 01 May 2008 03:11 GMT
On Apr 30, 10:18 am, "bungalow_st...@yahoo.com"
<bungalow_st...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> > <bungalow_st...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

With pure water when a hot motor is shut off, I have heard it boil in
the heads, not good in my opinion. New motors run hotter than old
motors as is designed in for efficency. 50-50 is best. 100% antifreeze
and you will overheat in summer when a mix wont, run 100% antifreeze
at -20f and the heater core in the cabin wont keep you warm the
difference in heat transfer abilities is so pronounced.
SMS - 25 Apr 2008 02:10 GMT
> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
> occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
> expectation and value.
> Yesterday morning after 40 miles, I saw suddenly an engine check
> symbol, and while thinking what could be the reason , I saw my heat
> indicator needle dropped to zero.

So why did the temperature gauge show zero if the engine was overheating?

The other question is where did all the coolant go? Does the water pump
have a slow leak? How often do you check the coolant?

Overheating is never a good thing on aluminum block engines. They have
very little tolerance to overheating.

> What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.

Not much you can do now. Even if something happened to the engine
because of a lack of coolant, it won't be covered by the warranty
because running the engine without coolant is considered abuse.
ransley - 25 Apr 2008 06:41 GMT
> oommen_se...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> because of a lack of coolant, it won't be covered by the warranty
> because running the engine without coolant is considered abuse.

The coolant fell below the engine temp sensor thats why it went to
zero i guess, isnt there a warning he missed. If it was a defect he
should have a warranty
C. E. White - 28 Apr 2008 23:19 GMT
>> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
>> occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> So why did the temperature gauge show zero if the engine was overheating?

I have seen this happen when you boil away all the coolant. Once there is no
water in the system, the temperature around the coolant sensor is no longer
properly related to the actual engine temperature.

Years ago I had a similar problem on a Datsun 280Z. The radiator cap had not
been properly secured, so the system was not pressurized. The water in an
unpressurized system has a much lower boiling point than when the system is
properly pressurized. Late at night I was driving back from a distant city
at somewhat higher than legal speeds. The water temperature stayed OK as
long as I was moving becasue I was forcing a lot of cooling air through the
radiator. However, when I stopped in a small town, the entire contents of
the radiator essentially flash boiled. I had a giant cloud of steam come
from under the hood and the temperature gauge acted exactly as in the case
of the OP. It was late at night, but the policeman in the town where I lost
all the water helped me get some water. After the engine cooled, I added the
water to the radiator, and made it the rest of the way home without
incident.

> The other question is where did all the coolant go? Does the water pump
> have a slow leak? How often do you check the coolant?

It depends on what actually happened. If the radiator cap was not properly
secured, the water could have exited as steam through the cap.

> Overheating is never a good thing on aluminum block engines. They have
> very little tolerance to overheating.

So true. However, if the car is running OK, and not using oil or water, I
doubt there was any permanent damage. Doesn't Toyota have a "fail-safe"
cooling system like most other companies? These reduce engine power, and
selectively cut fuel off to cylinders in a rotation to essentially air cool
the engine and allow you to limp to safety. My Ford says I can drive 50
miles with no coolant. And even then, you can let the car cool breifly and
dive even further.

>> What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.
>
> Not much you can do now. Even if something happened to the engine because
> of a lack of coolant, it won't be covered by the warranty because running
> the engine without coolant is considered abuse.

It would depend on why the engine lost all the coolant. If there was an
engine failure that caused the coolant loss, then any engine damage should
be covered by the warranty. The key is in determining why the coolant boiled
out.

Ed
ransley - 29 Apr 2008 21:43 GMT
> > oommen_se...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
>
> Ed

unless a rock hit the radiator he should be covered unless he left the
cap off, but I think he would have smelled it first.
bungalow_steve@yahoo.com - 27 Apr 2008 01:40 GMT
On Apr 24, 3:12 pm, oommen_se...@yahoo.com wrote:
> My 2008 model Camry, just done 18750 miles had a difficult problem
> occurred yesterday. For the last 7 months it did so well, as per my
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> What to Do? Only 7 months and bought new for relaibility.
> Please reply

you probably have a slow coolant leak, probably something very simply,
check the coolant daily or when you see the temp go to zero pull over
(with no coolant the temp sensor is measuring ambient air temperature,
not a great design, eh?)

you might have some engine damage
 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2008 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.