Ok gargage gods, I need your infinite wisdom.

I was on the beltline last night when my check engine light came on, and when I looked at it I saw that my temperature gauge was all the way at the top in the red zone. I took the next exit and parked (panicked). From calling my dad I was able to open the radiator and realized that I had no antifreeze in the tank. I got a friend to come out and fill it with water until we could get some antifreeze. After being off for about 45 minutes the temp was back to normal and it stayed normal on the 10 minute drive to the store. Most of the water drained out on the drive. We filled it with antifreeze (to the fill line) and it seemed ok. After sitting for 3 hours in my parking lot, I checked it and most of the antifreeze was gone (it was near empty). It's a '93 Toyota Camry.

1) If I take this to a garage, how much will this cost me, and for how long will I be car-less.
2) Would it be safe/possible for someone on here to fix this, and if so, for how much.
3) I don't know where the leak is because I don't know what I'm looking at.

Thank you thank you thank you.

11/18/2005 11:08:13 AM

1. cant say without knowing what is wrong
2. see 1.
3. this is why it will cost you a lot.

and please quit adding antifreeze and leaking it everywhere. it is environmentally and socially irresponsible. think of the dogs and cats whose kidneys you are causing to fail and die a slow painful death.

[Edited on November 18, 2005 at 11:17 AM. Reason : kittens and puppies ]

11/18/2005 11:12:19 AM

Fill it back up.
let it idle and see if you can spot where the water is coming from.

could be the radiator or a hose or a seal.

11/18/2005 11:19:05 AM

is their any noticable water/coolant on the ground after its been sitting awhile? if so, try to source the leak to something. If you can't tell, start your car (filled w/ coolant) and look to see if the leak is more noticeable. replace what is leaking, probably a hose, or radiator itself.

If you cannot find any liquid on the ground after letting it sit, and nothing when its running, you have a much bigger and more expensive problem. most likely head gasket failure.

11/18/2005 11:19:11 AM

it was dark outside last night so we couldn't locate a leak...

i think i may just crawl under there myself and find the leak, but i'll fill it with water instead of antifreeze because yes, i'm aware that leaking antifreeze is bad

how expensive are we talking if it's a head gasket failure? or a broken hose/seal?

11/18/2005 11:23:02 AM

hose ~$12
radiator ~$200
headgasket ~$2000

11/18/2005 11:33:27 AM

please be hose

the car itself is only worth $1500

11/18/2005 11:35:57 AM

PM sent

11/18/2005 11:40:00 AM

Have you checked the petcock valve? Could have vibrated loose or something. I know it's a long shot, but I've seen stranger things, and it'd take about 2 minutes to check, and free or really cheap to re-tighten or replace.

11/18/2005 12:21:54 PM

does she sound like she knows what a petcock is, or where to look for one?

11/18/2005 12:43:32 PM

the first thing you did wrong was open that rad. cap. if there were to be any fluid in there youd have a fucked up face right now in the hospital

11/18/2005 12:44:58 PM

Quote :

"does she sound like she knows what a petcock is, or where to look for one?"

yeah you're right, sorry.... here's some more info, check out the "leaky petcock" section. This is a step by step walkthrough with pictures.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ab_auto_cooling_system/article/0,2021,DIY_13676_2271299,00.html

11/18/2005 12:55:13 PM

wow, damn good find. should start a thread of diynetwork's diys and call it cars for n00bs or something.

11/18/2005 12:57:58 PM

Yeah, I just googled to try and find some pictures of a petcock valve, and found it. The site seems to be pretty comprehensive and worded for inexperienced folks. The pics leave something to be desired, not very big. A fairly impressive site for the most part.

11/18/2005 1:01:40 PM

i have a pet cock

11/18/2005 1:03:15 PM

I bet it's one needy bitch too...

11/18/2005 1:10:31 PM

get ur radiator from radiatorbarn.com or something like that i have the same engine as urs in my celica and bought my radiator which is an oem replacement for 115 dollars. the hoses ran me about 8 dollars.

this is a very easy replacement the biggest pain was cutting the hoses with my kitchen knife to fit the mounts .

oh yeah i just drove mine back with the cap off with the bad radiator filled with water pressure didnt build up so it didnt spill out the hole, although bigblue said that the car might be over heating then but i wouldnt be able to tell bc the cap was off the radiator.

11/18/2005 1:12:05 PM

Quote :

"this is a very easy replacement the biggest pain was cutting the hoses "

I'm not sure she's willing/able to do this replacement herself, she's looking to have it done for her quickly and cheaply.

by the way... A kitchen knife??? I bet it looked like a beaver knawed it apart. c'mon man, you've got an FJ40, you can't tell me that's the best you can do! just givin' you a hard time.

[Edited on November 18, 2005 at 1:21 PM. Reason : .]

11/18/2005 1:20:14 PM

hose if you're lucky
radiator if you're not as lucky
headgasket if you really pissed God off

11/18/2005 1:25:55 PM

couldn't the water pump leak?

11/18/2005 1:26:48 PM

weephole?

11/18/2005 1:28:21 PM

^^ Yes, it could be.
zxappeal, BigBlueRam, or myself can look at it, and fix it for you. A lot cheaper than a named shop.

11/18/2005 1:36:39 PM