Overheated engine

DENNIS WOODS

MEMBER
2005 HYUNDAI ACCENT
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
160,000 MILES

My son's car was sitting for more then 6 months, we drove it not realizing the alternator pulley had siezed and blew the belt. I noticed it was overheating, then the engine became sluggish and it started to steam really bad. I pulled into a service station shut it off and let in cool down. I called a tow truck to have it towed to my father's place. The car starts and runs good, the oil is clean but it looks like the rad is all gumed up. We did a compression test on the cylinders and they have good compression. We do not have the right fitting to do a cooling system test
I want to repair the car for my daughter and have to sink some money into it to certify.
My question is how do I check the engine and cooling system?
Specifically the engine to make sure it is damaged before I sink money into it.

2 Replies

SCGRANTURISMO

MECHANIC
4,897 POSTS

Hello,

There are a couple of tests to check the integrity of the engine and you have already done a major one with the compression test. Here are a couple of links to tests to test the cooling system and the head gasket respectively:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Please go through these guides and get back to us with how everything turns out. I hope this helps out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

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Saturday, February 29th, 2020 AT 2:05 PM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Here are a few guides that will get you started. Unfortunately the best way is to pressurize the system and check for leaks so I would recommend getting the proper attachment.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-an-overheating-engine

Next if the radiator seems stopped up then you will not get good coolant flow which will create hot spots in the coolant passages where the coolant is not moving very fast. Basically when it is restricted the coolant picks up more of the engine heat and it does not cool it down so it gets hotter then other portions of the engine and cooling system.

I would get a temp meter to take measurements around the engine and make sure it is all even. Clearly the upper radiator hose should be considerably hotter then the lower. At that point, squeeze the lower hose and make sure it is firm which means it is full of coolant. If it feels empty then you may be correct that the radiator is the restriction. You can try and pull the upper and lower hoses off and run a garden hose to it just to see how much water is coming out. It should be about the same amount of flow going in. Clearly if there is a restriction, you will get a low amount of water out the bottom and it will spray everywhere at the upper hose.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-an-infrared-temperature-meter

Let me know if you have questions about this and we can go from there. Thanks

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Saturday, February 29th, 2020 AT 2:09 PM