Newbie and I'll try and keep this brief.....my wife ran thru a deep puddle and 2 fan blades sheared off and put 4 nice sized holes in the radiator. She drove home like that, not knowing the damage that had been done. She proceeded to overheat the car, pegged to the red, with a temp of 255 and no water to speak of when she pulled over. I allowed it to cool, filled it back up and limped 1/2 mile home to diagnose what had happened. I bent over and spent some big money replacing the radiator and fan, and refilled with Dex, but noticed a good sized leak coming from the passanger side of the engine, by the belt, alternator, water pump, etc. It is difficult to tell at this time where it is coming from but I'm thinking it might be the water pump. I did notice that something also happened to the serpentine belt, it has a rough edge and looks frayed in 2 spots, almost like one of the fan blades might have hit it....another job. I guess I'll have to pull the tire and splash shield and look closer with a light.

The water leaks out within 10 minutes of drive time at 40 mph, but the more disturbing issue is that when I shut the car off it will not turn over without a fight, and I mean FIGHT!! It cranks and cranks almost like it is not getting gas or it's missing a spark, and the large check engine light comes on, but after 5 or 6 long cranks it turns over......not good!! This started right after the overheating problem. Any ideas on the water leak issue, but more concerning are the long cranks and the fact I'm worried it may not start one day? Oh yea, no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant....kinda a good sign, I hope. Thank you in advance for any assistance!!

 

If the coolant is dumping out of the engine could have a blown hose, a knackered water pump bearing or a cracked block or head - first thing I'd do is identify WHERE the coolant is leaking from.

As for the hard starting -A few questions:

When it cranks, does it crank slow (like it's really cold) or does it spin at the normal (pre-cooling system issue) rate?

Have you pulled and looked at the plugs? It's possible to blow a head gasket and not get coolant into the oil - if one of the plugs is REALLY clean I'd start thinking warped / cracked head.

Have you run a compression check on the engine? That's the only way to ensure the condition of the engine in general.

I'm certain that others will chime in with more suggestions - but that's where I'd start -

 

Thanks much Steve....it turns over at the same speed that it always has and spins at the normal rate. I have not pulled a plug yet, but I will first thing in the morning. What is it I should be looking for besides a really clean plug? One other thing....when it finally turned over I would have to give it gas to keep it going and it almost felt like it was pushing something out of the tail pipe, kinda like back pressure, if that makes any sense?

 

This does not sound good. I would do a compression test. When it overheated there maybe major engine damage. I'm thinking that your long crank time and poor engine power maybe due to low engine compression and / or blown head gasket. Hope I'm wrong

 

Unfortunately it sounds terminal, 255 degrees and no coolant is more than enough to kill an engine.

When you pull the plugs, don't be surprised if you find one or more that have been "steam cleaned", no carbon deposits, just super clean which is a sign that there has been coolant in that cylinder.

My concern is a cracked block, if it's dumping all of the coolant in ten minutes, you have a massive leak which may be a breached water jacket.

Check the tailpipe when its running, I'll bet you find that you're pushing coolant out of the exhaust.

Start looking now for a good used or remanufactured engine.

 

all of the above, and get those codes read from the check engine light!! search the codes here, but my experience points to head gasket, or cracked head , or cracked block or hopefully the least expensive the water pump. Please keep us up to date on your findings!!

 

Ditto to all the above.

Hopefully when this is all fixed and behind you, you can sit down and have a nice friendly conversation with the misses and explain what the needle on the left gauge is for.

 

Pointing to the sign post up ahead, .... The Twilight Zone!!!!

I explained to my wife once, equate the expence of the repairs to how many pairs of shoes she could by, she always points out anything out of the ordinary on the cars now!!
She now has collected enough proof that she has saved enough money in repairs over the last 44 years to pay for a new kitchen renovation. I start on that right away , dear!!

 

Just a question after thinking about this.........

Doesn't the HHR have a "No Start" condition built into the software if the vehicle is running TO HOT? Asking because somewhere in the back of my mind it seems someone had talked about this.

 

Not sure about the "no start" - I have witnessed the engine power reduced situation (in my case the throttle body had iced up apparently).

The damage potential for running without coolant - geeze - it's just not good - again - try to figure out where the coolant is leaking - if you're real lucky you need a head gasket and a water pump - but I suspect something of a more costly nature.

Best of luck

Steve