radiator hole and catastrophic overheating without warning

so, despite all the skid plates the 2014 will accept, i unknowingly poke a hole in the radiator. the check engine light pops on and the temp gauge drops to cold and rests on the needle peg. I drive home, 8 miles, to plug in the obd tester. safe to say it got HOT. Dealer says block is warped, $20,000 replacement. am i the only guy who thinks the gauge ought to show heat, whether there is water or not.

 

Wait, so you knew you had no coolant and drove 8 miles? What is wrong with you?

 

^THIS

^^ALSO THIS!

How on earth could you seriously think that driving home 8 miles without any coolant was a good idea? The temperature gauge is a WATER TEMPERATURE gauge, not an engine temperature gauge. It's like that on pretty much every vehicle that's ever existed (except for air cooled engines...).

So first, accept that you did this to yourself and lets move on.

Can you provide pictures of the damage? Skid plates offer protection from rocks and things that come from underneath. Typically, radiator punctures come from stuff that gets forced in through the grill. If you hit a large rock and broke your radiator I'd imagine the skid plate is 100% destroyed.

 

20k lol. They must have 45 gallon barrels of lube at that dealer.

Look for smashed tacoma for a heart transplant.

 

Cast iron blocks don't warp.

Aluminum heads do.

Take it to a real mechanic.

PS. Post pics of said hole/leak point. Bet it is in a location that has nothing to do with skid placement.

 

Why the hell would you drive a truck without coolant?? 20k for a motor swap, I've seen worse. Brand new 5.7 long block for a flooded tundra ran right around that area. Parts and labor. I'd look into a reman motor from jasper and swap that. I'd bet it would be around 5500 for a reman from jasper.

 

If it wasn't showing a temp that would mean the cooling system was completely dry or dry enough it couldn't circulate coolant. How much coolant came out when the radiator was damaged?

 

Now might be the time to do an LS swap. It would cost less than 20k

 

I'm guessing somewhere between 2.5 to 3 gallons

 

My guess from reading the OP is that he didn't realize it was a coolant leak til he got home. He just saw the CEL and gauge drop cold. At least that's what I got from the OP. Anyway, $20k for a motor is absurd.

 

There's no "low coolant" idiot light on our trucks?

 

What I mean is, was the leak a slight trickle, a garden hose, or hurricane Marie?

 

not my first rodeo, even an idiot knows to stop when overheating. my point is the truck's warning systems gave no indication that i was overheating. hot is hot, water or not.
a stick made it's way through an inspection hole and bled all the water out. the dealer did offer a used motor for $11,000. don't know how the mechanic could guess a warped block. i gave it to them for a blown head gasket repair.
my heat gauge didn't show cold, it completely shut down

 

If my coolant gauge went cold while driving, I'd stop to check the coolant. I believe the gauge starts to register at 100°F

 

Depending on his location 100 degrees could be ambient air temp

 

No. And there should be no need for one.

 

Yes!!!!!! Low coolant lights are for morons.

 

I agree. Usually idiot lights come on when it's too late. One of my old GM cars had one. It was the first light to come on after hitting a deer.

 

Re read post 8.

You need a new mechanic.