TRUCK OVERHEATED IN DRIVE THRU

My truck overheated in a sonic drive thru( so you know i was blocked in and couldnt move) so in panic i turned my truck off until the line cleared out and i could get it out. Was told i should of never turned off but anyways i heard a real bad knocking in the motor when i crunk it back up i believe it blew up. Getting it towed to a local mechanic that just did about 4k worth of work on my suspensions. My question is where should i go from here i dont want a truck payment im looking to replace motor and transmission need some opinions from people have been through this process!

 

Who said if your truck is overheating you shouldn't turn it off? LMAO. You should turn it off the second it gets past normal operating temps and inspect the cooling system for leaks (most likely had a radiator hose disconnect). The truck running while overheating probably caused the heads to warp, etc. and destroyed the motor, turning it off sooner would have saved it. I would look at local junkyards (pull - a - part) etc. to find a used motor/tranny. car-part.com is also a good resource to find used parts.

https://www.car-part.com/

 

LS swap

 

Well, if you are driving up a mountain and your truck is getting hotter and hotter, pulling over and opening the hood and letting it run until it cools down is a good idea. Sitting in a drive-thru idling and overheating is different, you'd likely want to shut it off -- it's not going to get any cooler, something is wrong.

Haven't been through this myself, but getting a crate motor might be a good option if you can find one.

 

Which engine? Where ya at?

 

When i called tow company and explained what happen then said i should of left it running and run water on which wasnt accessible in a drive thru obviously. I saw it was overheated turned it off and then hauled ass out of there. When i inspected motor obviously didnt take cap off radiator but saw the coolant container was empty. havent got confirmation from mechanic on where it blown up or not but want to go ahead and do research and have a game plan either way

 

i want to say its the 3.4 or 4.3 v6 its a 2001 toyota tacoma trd off road truck never had much done to it outside of regular upkeep. Not much of a motor person. i am in columbia south carolina

 

sounds like the perfect solution!

 

Shut it off and leave the acc key on with the heat on. Do not water the motor, you can spray the radiator. Could be a blown head gasket, may not be ruined completely. If it is then I would toss a used 3.4 back in it.

 

ill be honest i was running behind already i parked it turned it off immediately called the tow truck and left it! Where do you think the best place to start searching for a 3.4 motor ?

 

Craigslist, Facebook Market, Salvage Yard.

But I'd do some actual investigation first. The 3.4 is a pretty stout motor. It doesn't just blow up because it gets hot. Don't get me wrong, you may need a head or head gasket, maybe even worse.

But for the record... I over heated mine to the point that it gave me a flashing check engine light, and shut it's self off. Crazy circumstances, was super hot day, I was on a stretch of freeway where I really couldn't stop. Got to the top of the exit ramp and the truck stuttered and shut down. It was a cracked radiator... I did absolutely nothing to the heads, or the engine. I did replace the radiator, water pump, timing belt, etc... that was about 100,000 miles ago.

 

I don't even know what to say to that advice...what do they mean "leave it running and run water"?? Like leave it running and pour water on the engine or something? lol. You did the right thing by shutting it off. If it were low on coolant and you had no choice but to run distilled water in it then you'd still want to shut it off first and let it cool down. I don't understand why they would suggest to keep it running while hot.


The knocking is not a good sign. A little overheating won't kill a 3.4l in most cases but once it passes a certain point....kinda hard to tell from the description but knocking is never good. Did it peg into the red on the temp gauge? Boiling coolant in the reservoir? Anyway let us know what the mechanic says

 

JDM 3.4S are a dime a dozen. What major city are you near?

 

First thing Find Out just what is Wrong Before doing anything .

Figure out just why it over heated . The knocking very well might be what caused the over heating water pump fan clutch etc.

 

Yeah, my lid blew when I read that.

 

Supposedly modern engines can take a cold shock from adding water to a hot rad but I would never do this, why risk it anyhow its very dangerous as you likely get a geyser.

Even when I do an oil change, I wait to refill until the motors cooled a bit. In the past when I poured oil into a hot engine I would hear a loud crack noise from the head contraction I suppose. Call me paranoid but my approach is if being cautious does not cost you anything why tempt fate?

 

There is a big difference between getting slightly warm and over heating to the point the gauge is pegged.

Yet in both cases the engine is over heating .

Slightly warm keep the engine running turn the heater on

leaving the engine run was the old school go to for a over heating engine and quite common to pour ambient temperature water in while the engine was running this was common back in my misguided youth late sixties .

It really comes down what type of over heating failure one has.

I recall a blown head gasket on a small block chevy I drove it home about 10 miles just kept dumping water in the big clouds of water vapor were impressive back in 1976 . Got home the next morning Pulled the heads new gaskets back to the circle that night.

 

yeah I was thinking about this, I'm old enough that my dad had several 70's American V8's. Overheating was a fairly common occurrence as the hoses back then were not that good. Seems that although somewhat unreliable you could not break those cars.

Like you said you can pour cold water in the overheating radiator no problem. Also one time on a road trip I noticed a lot of oil on the rear window of my dads station wagon. Then late at night the automatic transmission quit like it was in neutral. Late at night, road in the middle of nowhere with no traffic and no patrols. We just waited a while till it cooled and it restored itself. Put in transmission fluid and it was fine. Turns out there is a vacuum line to the trans and the valve was busted sucking trans fluid into the engine.

 

I agree, I was trying to make sense of what the person from the tow company was telling him by saying to "run water with the engine on". I would never in a million years pour water over a hot engine, let alone one that's overheating. When I spray my engine to clean it I wait until its sat overnight, don't want something hot getting a cold shock and cracking or breaking.

But it sounds like that's what the person was telling him he should have done, either that or they were implying to put water in the radiator...which I know people do (distilled) if they have no access to coolant, but even then why would that guy tell him to do that with the overheating engine still running lol. Shut it off and let it cool down. I can't see any benefit to letting an overheating engine stay running when shutting it off will let it cool down

it just sounds like that tow company employee had no idea what they were saying, either that or there was some misunderstanding between OP and the person on the phone.

 

This happened yesterday to my Tracker. Coolant hose had a hole in in, so no coolant recirculation. Was about to hit red when I pulled into CVS for a gallon of distilled water. (yes, turned it off)

It's probably your thermostat or water pump OP...assuming your coolant is still in there