2004 camry overheated
 

Yesterday the heat gauge (in the dash) went crazy going up and down. I checked and everything seemed cool. Later the gauge went back to normal. About 5 minutes later at a red light the car began steam as if overheating I was in heavy traffic area and it took a 1/4 mile or so to stop. As I was stopping the valves clangged a few times and it quit. Thinking it was the thermostat I waited 4-5 hours filled it with water and nothing.It turns over but no fire. I tried again this afternoon and again the same thing. I unhooked the battery for about 5 minutes then retried and again nothing. Some water seemed to be leaking in the area of the water pump but I am not sure of this. PLEASE help me

thanks

What engine, 4 cylinder or V6?

How much water did you add to fill up the cooling system?

Have you checked for ign spark?

Does the car have a Toyota immobilizer and if so has it been activated (check for blinking light on dash)?

4 cylinder engine, I don't know how much water I put in but it was several gallons. I haven't yet checked for spark and I am not sure about the immobilizer. I will check

thanks
carl

If several gallons the engine may have been damaged.

How skilled are you at car repairs to investigate for possible damage?

i am pretty good at it. I thought the car had the immobilizer on it but I checked and there was not a light on.

Check the engine oil level. Sometimes when engines overheat, a lot of oil get burned.

When cranking the engine over, any strange noises? Does the engine crank over smoothly or speed up and slow down? Signs of a burned valve, piston seal issues, etc.

Check for spark.
-Remove the cover over that goes over the top of the engine to access the plugs.
-Remove the ign coils (take note of how they were installed).
-Remove the spark plugs.
-Reinstall the plugs into the coils, then ground the body of the plug to simulate being installed in the engine.
-Crank engine over and check for spark at all plugs.

When the engine is turning over, listen for strange noises. If you have a compression gauge then test cylinder pressure.

When the engine is cranking over some fuel should be injected into the cylinders, determine if you can smell fuel.

I do have a spark, I am waiting until dark to be sure all of them are sparking but teh big news is I had water shoot out of the two middle cylinders when I removed the plugs and turned the motor over.

Obviously water in the cylinders is bad.

Might do a search of this forums posts to read up on head bolts pulling out of the engine block on this engine. Typically this results in some coolant leakage but not to this extend.

Try to determine if the issue was something like a seal failing on the water pump, a hose, etc or the head bolts pulling out.

Also if too much in water the cylinder can hydro-lock resulting in bent rods.

Pull the head and take a look.

This is a little over my head I think. I do things such as brakes ,change water pumps belts etc. But have never attempted this.

thanks very much for the help, i will check the latest first before trying to get more help