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Wait, Toyota fans all say Toyotas are good for 200,000 miles with no mechanical problems, they are that good! How can this be?
Well, reliable still means you need to do basic maintenance.
My volt is quite reliable, and it rarely requires maintenance other than tyres and wiper fluids.
My car is an older Toyota Camry. It's been having problems with the radiator itself becoming empty underneath the radiator cap, so every two weeks or so I have to add more coolant. Anyway, I haven't done that in a couple weeks and tonight when I drove it started smoking pretty bad at red lights, from under the hood, but the temperature control inside the vehicle read cool.
I tried making it to the nearest parking lot while I was driving , but my car basically shut-off at a red light and smoked badly from the hood. I ended up getting it towed home. Does this sound like a reasonable fix or does it sound like my car completely died? If its able to be fixed for a reasonable cost I can have it towed to a mechanic, but don't want to do that if my engine is ruined completely.
Also when this problem happened for some reason my heat was turned on and blowing air but wouldn't get warm, not sure if that has anything to do with it but noticed it being a problem.
Try the starter and see if it will turn over. Hopefully, it will now that it has cooled off.
If it turns over, I would listen and see if it turns over steadily. By that I mean it should go RR-RR-RR-RR-RR not RR-R-R-RRR-RR-R-R-RR.
Make any sense? If it sounded right but didn't start I would send it to the mechanic.
I was adding coolant every two weeks, very small amounts directly to the radiator so I thought it was okay to do that until I could get it repaired. I had replaced the radiator eight years ago. I was saving up for the repair.
The last time it cost a little under $200 and now the damage is most likely much worse. I just didn't realize adding coolant over a few month time frame was the wrong choice.
"leaks" have a bad habit of becoming worse if left unrepaired...........
Wait, Toyota fans all say Toyotas are good for 200,000 miles with no mechanical problems, they are that good! How can this be?
Actually my car has over 225,000 miles. ( I'll look again next time for the exact number) I have tried to take really good care of it with regular oil changes and tune ups etc... It's been a very reliable good car.
Try the starter and see if it will turn over. Hopefully, it will now that it has cooled off.
If it turns over, I would listen and see if it turns over steadily. By that I mean it should go RR-RR-RR-RR-RR not RR-R-R-RRR-RR-R-R-RR.
Make any sense? If it sounded right but didn't start I would send it to the mechanic.
BOL!
Really you think I should attempt to start it? Wouldn't that make it worse?
If the car is in good condition otherwise it might be worth fixing as long as the engine did not run HOT for more than a couple of minutes. After that the engine is ruined. Some people just can not do the things that have to do to own and drive a car, any car. Thats why we have public transportation.....lol
Had the coolant actually been leaking out (i.e., there was a green puddle under the car every morning), or have you seen white smoke and/or smelled coolant while driving?
Anything can have a coolant leak. I had to replace the radiator in my 2002 Tundra a couple of years ago at 198k miles.
I had to replace the radiator on my 1988 Mercury Tracer due to salt corrosion. I later bought a low mileage used 1994 Ford Escort. I had to replace the radiator, thermostat, heater core, valve cover gasket, and transmission pan gasket before I got it to stop leaking. I also tracked down a plugged rear quarter panel drain that was causing water to accumulate on the floor pan. I even had to add a hose clamp to the hose at the bottom of the overflow tank on my 2014 Toyota Tacoma, because it had a slight leak.
I used to replace radiator and heater hoses on a regular basis, but this is no longer necessary. Hoses are made of better materials now.
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