Hello all,New to board tried the search but came up dry. The car is a 95 camry with a 5s-fe 4cyl. The car will start and run fine for about twenty or trirty minutes and then die. It seems to be hot when this happens but it doesn't read hot on the gague. After it quits it will not crank like the motor is froze up. After a few hours when it is cool it cranks and runs like a champ.The rad, fans, therm and water pump are all working anyone have any ideas? thanks for looking and thanks in advance for any replys,it's got me bumped.

 

How hot does the temp gauge indicate?

Have you inspected the thermostat?

The coolant fans should turn on if the connector going to the temp switch at the bottom of the radiator is removed (ign switch on).

What makes you think the engine is too hot? When the engine is hot, does one radiator hose feel much cooler then the other? Does the engine turn over when hot or not?

If not might try using the crank bolt pulley to turn the engine over by hand and determine if the motor really is frozen.

Remove the radiator cap when engine cooled, let engine warm up and determine if the coolant is circulating in the top tank. If you have some kind of thermometer you can take coolant temps as the engine warms up. The coolant fans should turn on at about 199F.

If you think the engine really is overheating best to check issues like the T-stat, temp switch, etc are OK. Prolonged overheating can cause head gasket failure.

 

First off thanks for the reply. I had to pull a double if I wanted the fourth off so I was tied up for a wile. The car isn't mine it's my daughters so I get most of my info second hand. The last time it was left on the side of the road for me to get home I jumped it and drove it about four miles and it just died. When I went to crank it the pinion ran out but would not turn the motor put a hot battery with the same result. When i poped the hood it was red hot ticking and pinging off of the exhaust manifold you couldn't put a hand on the valve cover the over flow had boiled over a little. It never went above half on the temp gauge. After I got it home i checked the coolant temp sensor for the fans and the the green one for the ecm next to the gauge sender. Both checked out fine the fans cycle as they should and the ecm is showing no trouble codes.I checked the water pump cold by squezeing the top hose to push out enough coolant to get it out of the neck and watched it circulate trough the rad and then hot by squeezeing the top hose and lisening and feeling the swoosh when it was realeased. I could not get the car to die again in the drive after runing for an hour. When cold it ran fine after it heated up it started missing and loaping at idle from 700 down to 500 some times dieing but restarting. Giveing it any fuel above idle it stumbles from 700 to 1500-1800 clears up and revs fine. the bottem hose wasent heating up very fast so I grabed a 180 T stat and threw it in and it dosent loap and miss as bad it might have been sticking or not opening fully. And the worst part after my wife got home I had her keep an eye on the tail pipe and water is comeing out. It's not loseing any coolant,no oil in it. No coolant in the oil. Sorry for the long post been a rough year can't afford a garage so you guys opinion is very important to me thanks again, Mike

 

If overheated this engine can blow the head gasket, common issue if overheated.

The typical indicator was the coolant system failed for some reason, the temp gauge went into the red (hot coolant) and stayed there too long (assuming the gauge works OK).

It is not common with this engine for the engine not turn over when hot, then do so when cold and strange if the temp gauge never gets into the red but has starting problems (again assuming it works and indicates engine coolant temp).

Typically symptoms on this engine of a blown head gasket is the coolant "boils over" quickly (hot exhaust gas in the coolant), sometimes the temp gauge goes into the red quickly, other times it is hit or miss.

Coolant back flows (surges) out of the over flow container due exhaust gases in the coolant.

If you think it is the head gasket suggest buying a block test kit to check for exhaust gases in the coolant (cost about $50 at a well stocked parts store) or have a shop do the test.

The test uses a chemical inside a tube, one end of the tube is stuck into the radiator filler port. As the engine heats up when if exhaust gases are present they will bubble through through the tube to exit the radiator and the chemical will change color.

The alternative is a pressure test of the coolant system.

The engine would be hot even if normal, not red hot but you would not want to touch the valve cover. Something hot to the touch is generally over 155F.

Things that have gone wrong with the coolant system on this engine are:

T-stat

Sometimes the water impeller fails, as in comes loose from the drive shaft, fins break off or corrode too much, etc. These issues are rare but do happen.

Plugged radiator core. A garden hose should be able to flow at full volume into the top hose and out the bottom without backing up.

Very bad coolant/water-too old/contaminated.

Plugged radiator exterior fins, very rare.

If you have some kind of thermometer the coolant temp can be checked via the radiator filler port. The fans should turn on at around 199F. If all systems are working normally the engine should be able to idle indefinitely without overheating.

You might take out the T-stat and fill the system with distilled water (why waste coolant) then determine what happens.

If a bad head gasket due to the exhaust leakage into the coolant all kinds of strange issues can happen. A head gasket can be difficult to diagnose by symptoms thus suggest a pressure or block test.

If a blown head gasket coolant may not be in the oil, this is rare but does happen. Most times it just goes out the exhaust pipe. Even there make sure it is just not condensation. Again one reason to have some test done as people start implying this or that.

Sometimes one can smell the antifreeze in the exhaust gases.

Obviously there would need to be reason for a blown head gasket, they don't just fail. Typically this is a caused by a failed coolant hose, the radiator fans not working allowing overheating in stop and go driving, etc, stuck T-stat. But all these would show up at the temp gauge when the failure was occurring.

Sometimes it takes more then one overheating experience to blow a heat gasket.

Suggest you still keep an open mind, as could be a head gasket. But sometimes one gets focused in one cause and it turns out to be something else.

If the engine really is seizing up when hot and not a starter problem would try to consolidate testing to avoid more damage. Do all your tests on one engine start.

If the engine does get hot and fail to turn over use a socket, long extension and breaker bar to turn the bolt on the crank pulley. If the engine is seized up, this obviously is trouble.

One other test you might do is compression or leak down test. You might be able to rent a compression tester at an autoparts store. If the engine really is seizing up the rings/cylinders may have been damaged. The result being low compression on 1 or 2 cylinders, this can explain the strange idle, etc.

 

Thanks Joey, The temp gauge tested with in spec and works. I can't duplicate the hot condition or the stall in the drive way. I think it's is happening under load. It will not over heat or boil over even after runing in park shifting to drive with my foot on the brake for over an hour. The water out the tail pipe is just that no coolant smell clear in color but alot of it. The loap and miss not sure yet. The stumble sounds like ignition timing but with the test ports jumped and at 750 rpm it's bang on. I can do a head gasket no problem but don't want to unless I haft to. So time dig and find my compression tester and see what I come up with. And I will be doing a pressure test on the cooling system and if need be buying the test kit you mentioned. Thanks again. I will will update this thread it might help some one in the future.

 

Might check the exhaust system for plugging, this can cause overheating under load.