Problem with car radiator but what is it??

Question

Yesterday after I went to the store, I began hearing a rattling sound in the engine of my 2001 Ford Explorer. After going to work there was smoke coming out of my engine, and while going home there was not only smoke coming out of my car everytime I stopped but there wasa rattling and sometimes a squeaky sound everytime I put my foot on the gas pedal. After I got home there was stinky smoke coming out of my engine big time and it took awhile to dissipate entirely. Well I called my folks who are out of town and they told me it was the radiator and I would have t park it until they can look at it. There is no liquid in my radiator coolant bucket of course. I hope my engine isn't ruined here. Can anyone diagnose this and tell me what to do here??

Answer 1

Ryan, I hope you're sitting down.  It's very possible that you've blown the head gasket on your engine.  The engine is made of a top half (head) and bottom half (block).  There is a cork gasket between the two that maintains a seal for the cooling fluids (oil and coolant=antifreeze/water) to circulate around the engine without being fed into the combustion chamber.  If you run the engine without coolant it gets hot enough to blow that seal.  That means the oil begins to leak and burn (the stinky smoke).  If that happens the engine heats up FAST.  If it gets hot enough the block (pistons and the firing chambers they move in) will warp and then seize.  If that happens, your engine is dead.  No fixing, just replacing.

Your parents are right.  Stay put, don't run it and let them help you.  Ask them to tell you about a "maintenance shedule" to keep this from happening again, by the way.

Answer 2

you were probably on the way to siezing your engine.

Answer 3

Sounds like you over heated your engine.You'll probably need to replace the head gaskets and possibly repair or replace cracked heads,If the engine has a lot of miles on it,you can't replace the heads without doing a complete engine over haul.Next time when it starts smoking or making a noise,stop driving it until you find out what is wrong.

Answer 4

I see the other people that answered this were quick to go for the possibility of an engine or head gasket failure. Since you never said the vehicle was running poorly, I am going to dismiss an engine or head gasket failure as a possible cause.

The fact you mentioned there was smoke along with a rattling and squeaking noise coming from the front of the engine, I am going to suggest one of your belt driven components have failed.

I suggest this because the smoke was probably the belt slipping against a seized pulley which would also explain the squeaking noise you heard. You could probably start the vehicle and observe all your pulleys and see if one of them isn't turning. I would pay close attention to any idler or tensioner pulley. I would also observe your alternator and air conditioning compressor. Most likely one of these has seized.

The fact you mentioned the coolant expansion tank was empty doesn't really concern me. I get the impression you probably don't check it very often. Not many people do until there is a problem. It has probably slowly gone down over time and you haven't really noticed it.

I think the news isn't as bad as the others have made it sound. Don't let it get to you. Enjoy the visit with your folks