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- Protege5 2003
So our 2003 P5 has been with my daughter at college in Columbia, MO. Yesterday she calls up and says "there is a problem with the car." This is never good news, especially when said car is 1800 miles away, which makes it really hard to deal with. Anyway, as she describes it, "first the radio went funny, then the battery light came on, then the lights started to dim, then it started smoking, then the radiator cap blew off." With great trepidation I asked, "what did the temperature gauge show?" To which she replied, "oh yes, it was very hot". But wait, there's more! She called some guy she knows to come help. They put the radiator cap back on, it was apparently somewhere in the engine compartment, but did not add coolant. Then they tried repeatedly to jump start the car, and it would run for a few seconds and then die (of course) as soon as the cables came off. Right now it is sitting by the side of the road somewhere in Columbia, and since it is Sunday, there isn't much that can be done.
My best guess is that the belt that drives the water pump etc. failed outright, or became so loose it wasn't turning anything, or one of those driven accessories locked up and wouldn't turn. She did not say that it squealed, so probably one of the first two. Any of these would have been minor if she had only just pulled over and turned it off. She did not, so then it overheated, badly. Blew something, probably the head gasket, to account for the smoke. She did not say what color it was, not sure she could tell as it was dark. Then it got hotter still, and the pressure blew the radiator cap off. I think she even drove it a bit after that.
I'm thinking that this motor may be a lost cause. With the thermal abuse she put it though it would be a minor miracle if, in addition to at least a blown head gasket, it had not also warped the head, or done who knows what other evil damage. This sort of damage is not something I have ever seen personally, never having been dumb enough to run a motor once it was obvious the cooling had failed.
The car only had about 80K miles on it, but that reliable "low mileage" motor just became something else entirely. Anybody care to guess what are we looking at here for repairs, in parts and labor at an independent mechanic?
My best guess is that the belt that drives the water pump etc. failed outright, or became so loose it wasn't turning anything, or one of those driven accessories locked up and wouldn't turn. She did not say that it squealed, so probably one of the first two. Any of these would have been minor if she had only just pulled over and turned it off. She did not, so then it overheated, badly. Blew something, probably the head gasket, to account for the smoke. She did not say what color it was, not sure she could tell as it was dark. Then it got hotter still, and the pressure blew the radiator cap off. I think she even drove it a bit after that.
I'm thinking that this motor may be a lost cause. With the thermal abuse she put it though it would be a minor miracle if, in addition to at least a blown head gasket, it had not also warped the head, or done who knows what other evil damage. This sort of damage is not something I have ever seen personally, never having been dumb enough to run a motor once it was obvious the cooling had failed.
The car only had about 80K miles on it, but that reliable "low mileage" motor just became something else entirely. Anybody care to guess what are we looking at here for repairs, in parts and labor at an independent mechanic?