Truck overheated, wont start need help!

Hey guys need help!

Drove two hours the other day and was 20 minutes away from home and heard a pop sound while driving and noticed my temp gauge was rising so I stopped and looked under the bay to see what's going on. Noticed that the radiator cap blew off and the coolant was everywhere. Let it cool off a little and went to AutoZone for a cap and put it back on. I then started driving again and noticed that the temp gauge go up again and my check engine light popped up. But my temp gauge goes back to normal so I just figured everything was fine until 5 minutes before I got home. Everytime I pressed the gas pedal something would rattle in the engine bay and it would be a little sluggish. So I kind of just coasted home. Got home to the driveway and my truck just cuts off and I see smoke coming from the bay so I jumped out and saw that the coolant reservoir is boiling. It would start after being cooled off but it would die 15 seconds in so I left it in the drive way.

What do you guys think is wrong?

 

Something forced a high pressure into the coolant system. The pressure was high enough to pop the radiator cap off.

The only thing I can think of that can produce high pressure is a compromised head gasket allowing cylinder pressure into the coolant system.

 

year & miles .............

how much coolant did U replace when U put back new cap

how much coolant did U replace after oil over ...........

 

Was the coolant actually boiling (as in, it had reached 212+) or could it have been bubbling because of the introduction of pressure (head gasket)?

This seems like a slightly unusual set of symptoms? Any DTCs? Any signs of a head gasket issue? Oil in the coolant? Coolant in the oil pan? It almost feels more like a cooling system issue that developed enough pressure to pop off an old rad cap; a thermostat failing closed perhaps?

 

What came first the chicken or the egg? Blown head gasket or overheat issue? Either way you got a heap of work ahead of you. Head gaskets generally are caused from over heat issues not the other way around.

 

I'm guessing damage from overheating. Regardless of why the radiator cap "popped off" - which is really strange - you should have replaced the missing coolant before driving. The reason your temp gauge showed "normal" while going home is that you lost so much coolant that the temp sensor didn't have enough water in the system to give an accurate reading. That sensor is located fairly high in the cooling system and it doesn't take a whole lot of water loss to uncover it.

 

This has me wanting to “agree” with you.
But let’s hope not, for the sake of the OP.
Let’s hope an external leak went unnoticed and the engine is fine.
Please, please let it be that.

 

I have a 2006 tacoma about 280k. I filled it with a gallon of the Asian coolant before putting the cap back on

 

If you are loosing coolant and you don’t see it leaking outside the engine. That’s not good. I will say 260k is a long time on those gaskets. I know some late model 06 had the better gaskets.

Keep us updated on what you figure out.

 

Never ever keep driving when your truck overheats,until a total repair is made.O.P. you most likely blew a head gasket $$$$,a new engine is in the works.

 

My troll meter is on alert.

 

I think that the rubber hoses would blow before a metal radiator cap... Just my 2 centavo's.

 

The cap should have opened and blew up the overflow bottle, I would think. If the cap was stuck closed, the hoses would be next.

 

You know it got real hot that's a surefire way to blow a head gasket or worse, go buy a compression gauge or have someone do it for you it will tell you all you need to know. Parts, machine shop and labor you are going to have to reach deep into your pocket.

 

Sorry for not replying to yall,

We did a few diagnosis and saw that I dropped a valve seat so we had to take apart the whole engine. We rebuilt the head, added new gaskets, hoses and pretty much a whole new cooling system and new fluids. Thank y'all for the help