My car overheated today. I stopped,turned off my engine, popped my hood and saw


steam coming out of my radiator. My radiator cap is quite new. I was reading where overheating could be due to lots of reasons, ie, fan, AC,relays, fuses, or the alternator and/or cap. Can you help me dignose or at least eliminate some possibillites? I will attach a couple of pictures. The steam cause a lot of white stuff on my engine.
If I really need to go a short distance to a car parts store, can I add water or do I need distilled water or 50/50 mix in my radiator? I don't even know if my radiator is empty. The reservor is at the fill line.
Thanks!

 

First, I would top off the radiator and overflow reservoir.
I would then let the car run with the hood open and watch for leaks.
Where did the steam come from your radiator? Pin pointing where the steam/leak is coming from is paramount, hopefully that is all it is.
Now, if the leaks appear to be pressurized, meaning steams bursting through a fitting/connection, then there is another issue.
Traveling short distances (and you are not in freezing weather) then just adding water will get you by. Running the recommended coolant is by far the best though.

 

Until you find the leak use distilled water. Coolant is mixed with distilled water to cut it down to a 50% solution of coolant and water. Distilled water is cheap and non-toxic. When buying coolant in a jug, one can get 100% coolant or a premixed 50/50 of coolant and water. Read the label.

Inspect the radiator hoses including the bypass hose for damage resulting in a leak.

The upper and lower sections of the radiator are plastic. Over time with the heat of the coolant and pressure of the coolant system the plastic can develop cracks. These start out as a small seepage then one day open up. Inspect the upper tank for cracking.

Some auto parts chain stores rent or loan out coolant system pressure test kits. The kit has an air pump that pressures the coolant system to simulate operating the engine.

One can get dyes which color the "coolant" or water and glow under black light to aid in seeing any leaks.

If you need to get to the car parts store then check the system. Fil it with water, set the heater to mx heat, squeeze the upper radiator hose to get the ai out and check for leaks. If a hose is split or a major leak where the water is running out there is no sense in adding more water as it will just run out again. You will need to fix the problem before starting the engine.

If no leaks, start engine and let it warm up as you watch the water level inside the radiator fill port. The water should start to get hot. Add more water if the level drops. Check for leaks.

Install the radiator cap to pressure the system. As the pressure builds up assume the system will leak again. If there is a leak STOP engine!!!!!!!

Watch the engine temp gauge. DON'T let get into the red or you can blow a head gasket or crack a head!!!!!

It is possible to operate the engine with the radiator cap loose as in not fully tightened. Doing this will prevent the system from pressuring and with force coolant and leaks. Have had coolant leaks where needed to run with the cap loose and stop every few miles to add more water until reaching my destination.

Once the coolant system is fixed drain and add a 50/50 mix coolant.

 

Thank you both for your suggestions.
I'm going to a mechanic I used last time. I leave in two hours. He livse about 6 miles from me. A neighbor took me to AutoZone, and I got a different radiator cap because mine was 16 psi and should be 13 psi. A few months ago, I had steam coming from my hood. Lube-it-USA said I had a crack in my radiator, so I took it to Mac's Auto & Radiator repair. They said it was not the radiator, but rather a bad cap, so they only charged me $9 for a new cap, but they put on a 16psi cap.
I also bought 2 gal of distilled water from Walmart (I get my groceries delivered free). My neighbor gave me a gal of Antifreeze/coolant. Says "Add Water", so it needs to be mixed with distilled water to create the 50/50 mixture. I will call my mechanic to see if he wants me to fill with water or the mixture.
I've been having a back and forth discussion with ToyotaNations and about 10 members gave suggestions. One guy said ONLY BUY OEM TOYOTA CAP. Others jumped on him for that saying not necessary.
AutoZone talked me into buying K-seal - coolant leak repair, but I won't put any of that into my tank unless my mechanic says to (last resort). Like you said, we need to see the leaks.
When I was stuck in traffic, I only saw the steam coming out of the hood and the temperature gauge was on the "H". I turned off my engine immediately. After some nice people pushed me to a side street, I opened my hood and I did see steam coming out of my radiator. I took a lot of photos for ToyotaNations, and one guy zoomed in on the pic and saw a hairline crack in the radiator. Here it is.

 

Before I left to go to my mechanic (Shawn)'s house, I topped off my radiator with distilled water. After traveling 2.5 miles, My temperature gauge almost hit the H (hot) line. I pulled over in a Bimart parking lot, and called him. He came to me. He visually saw that my radiator is cracked. He put in more distilled water and some coolant and we took a drive for 10 minutes with going 40 mph and the needle stayed in the middle range. We got back and popped the hood and he could see there is a crack in the radiator and it was dripping coolant out of it. He walked across the street to Albertson's supermarket and bought black ground pepper and put some in my radiator. It actually did help with cloging the leak, but I need to buy new radiator and upper hose that leads to the rad.
I'm having trouble with buying the parts on RockAuto. ToyotaNations said go with KOYORAD. It's $81 .I put it in my cart. I'm wondering if my cap will fit it?
Do I need to flush the old or new radiator before swapping it out?
Can someone go to rockauto.com find me the upper hose? Do I need new clamp? Shawn told me right away that the upper hose had slipped 3 inches away from the radiator.
My cooling fans are not turning even when the car is warmed up.Probably a fuse or relay.
What about a thermostat? My car is 1996. I'm confused.

 

Having been down this road with almost the same year car.

DON'T add coolant system sealant or pepper. They both can plug up things.

If your coolant is now leaking out in large amounts DON'T keep adding the coolant mix. Water by itself cools very well. The race cars on TV use water because if they get into a wreck that damages the radiator there are no environmental issues.

DON'T bother to fix any crack on a plastic radiator. The fix might work for a time, but it will eventually leak and perhaps worse.

If you are trying to drive to the closest mechanic, leave the radiator cap loose. Tightening the cap will build up pressure and force out the coolant faster through any leaks.

DON'T leak the temp gauge get into the red. This can blow a head gasket or crack the head.

If the cars A/C system works, turn it on high. With engine idling both coolant fans should turn on/off with when the A/C compressor clutch turns on/off. You will know when the compressor is on because the engine RPM should rise slightly to compensate for the load of the compressor

There is a radiator fan on/off temp switch on the lower part of the radiator which faces the engine. Unplug the wiring harness from the switch. If the fan system is working OK both fans should come on.

The fans typically only operate when the car is idling or in stop and go as in slow MPH. At normal road speeds the fans should be turned off as the is now ample air flow through the radiator.

The KOYOGUARD should be OK. Get a radiator with a guarantee as had them leak. If buying at Rockauto look at the Denso brand. Toyota owns a large stake in Denso.

For radiator hoses any of the brand name listed in the Rockauto Daily Driver section are OK. If the hose is moving and not swelled up in size it may be the clamp. Get a hose clamp that has a screw tightening mechanism using a screwdriver.

1996 TOYOTA CAMRY 2.2L L4 Radiator Hose | RockAuto

Rockauto lists both 13 and 16 pound caps. Toyota states 10.7 to 14.9 psi. It is not required to get a Toyota brand cap but do get one listed for your car.

 

Joey, I did put both upper and lower hoses made by Dayco in my Rock Auto cart. Upper is $5.88. Lower: $19.18.
I am going to save your entire message to a document and print it out. Lots of good information in there.
Can you find me the Denso radiator? I deleted the KOYOGUARD one. There are pages of Denso radiators. Here's just one page.

 

DENSO2213131

Confirm it is the right part by reviewing your cars info is correct at the link below.

1996 TOYOTA CAMRY 2.2L L4 Radiator | RockAuto

The heart next to the part listing means it's a popular selling part.

Search the internet for 5% off discount codes on your total purchase. Put code in the checkout box asking, "where do you hear about us?"

Which shipping chargers on multiple items as the company drop ships from warehouses across the US and charges can add up.

You can tell which warehouse the part comes after you put it into your cart. it will have a symbol of a truck and letter such as A, B, C each being a different warehouse. As stated any name brand of radiator hose will be OK.

Rockauto takes some patience to get everything you need a reasonable shipping cost. The win is part prices can be 1/2 that for the exact same parts (brand and part numbers) as sold at an auto parts store.

 

Thank you Joey. I got the discount code - it was 5% off, so $7.50 credit. Parts are on the way.

 

All my parts are in. My mobile mechanic (Shawn) is getting weird on me. Maybe it's partly my fault because I asked him if he is going to do a flush and change out the Thermostat. He called me and layed in to me, very angry. "You don't need all that stuff stop listening to members on forums". I just politley said "ok, thanks for letting me know".
Today, I told him "My parts are all in now". And he said "I'm tied up all day today, so call me tomorrow".

Do you think it's a good practice to flush out the sytem after old radiator is removed? I'm concerned that there might be debris of junk in there that I don't want to contaminate my new radiator. I told him I would pay extra to install the thermastat.

I found a shop called JLG that is one mile from where I live. They will allow me to bring my new parts and charge me for labor, however that charge is $210 with a 5% discount. Whereas Shawn will only charge me $65 but is hesitant to to install the termostat or do a flush. I did make appt with JLG, but they are booked up until next week, June 16th. I can always cancel. But with Shawn, I don't want to be there to interrupt his focus so I need to arrange a ride from a neighbor, but he's not talking to me yet.

I want it done right. He did a good job in March replacing hoses for my leaky power steering reservoir, but I just am confused at this point. I'd love to save my car, but I don't want to go bankrupt over this.