Odd car problem, not sure where to look first.

[Cypher]

My wife was driving one of the cars home today. A 2006 Avalon. And said she heard a funny noise when pulling into the neighborhood, almost a weed eater like sound and when she pulled in it was "smoking". When I checked it later it was actually steam.

When I got home I looked at it and took it for a short drive and noticed that the heat gauge was topped out. I tried running with the heat on full blast and not heat would come out, tried the AC and also no cool air. The heat gauge all of a sudden quickly dropped down to the bottom for about 10 seconds and then shot up to the top. it mostly stayed pegged out at the max but would drop the same way for 10 seconds or so and then shoot backup.

When I pulled in I saw the same "smoke" and opened the hood and noticed it was steam. I could see spurts of liquid and steam coming out of a little hose that connected to the engine side of the air intake, after where the air filter is placed.


Any ideas what this sounds like it might be?

[imanaknut]

No heat from the heater and a pegged gauge and white smoke tells me your coolant is getting into the combustion chambers. No heat out of the heater is because the cabin heater is higher than the engine radiator, and with low water/coolant there is nothing getting to the heater core.

Some cars use engine coolant as an intake pre-heater, and if the hose is leaking, the fluid would obviously be drawn into the intake, and exit as the "smoke" you saw.

If you are lucky, you might just have to replace the leaking hose. If you are not lucky, the engine was run long enough hot that the head is warped and major repairs are close at hand.

[skorpion]

Water pump bit the dust. The water pump has a turbine in it that spins and moves coolant. Something in it broke, or maybe even the pulley on it broke, causing the noise. With the failure of the water pump, the engine coolant became overheated and caused the steam you saw. The lack of coolant flow caused the HVAC system to not work properly.

Disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic, but I do my own work on my vehicles and that is my theory based on my own experiences.

Cheap part, but cost of labor at a shop will set you back a few smacks.
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sh...ta/avalon.html

[alismith]

I'm thinking dead water pump, too. Not pretty when it fails....

[Gunner1558]

Water pump bit the dust. The water pump has a turbine in it that spins and moves coolant. Something in it broke, or maybe even the pulley on it broke, causing the noise. With the failure of the water pump, the engine coolant became overheated and caused the steam you saw. The lack of coolant flow caused the HVAC system to not work properly.

Disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic, but I do my own work on my vehicles and that is my theory based on my own experiences.

Cheap part, but cost of labor at a shop will set you back a few smacks.
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sh...ta/avalon.html

I'd tend to agree with this .

[imanaknut]

Reread the post, and missed the noise issue. Yep, most likely pump failure causing pressure rise which cause all the problems including blowing that little hose.

Unfortunately even if the engine is ok, replacing the water pump on most modern cars runs in the $1000 range plus or minus a little.

[number6]

Water leaking out of a hose? Do the simplest thing first, replace the hose.
Check your oil dip stick to make sure it doesn't look like chocolate milk (water in the oil).

If a stream of water hits the fan under high pressure, it will make a strange noise.
Buy coolant, usually a 50/50 mix unless your owner's manual says different. Top off the coolant level and check the overflow/reservoir tank.

If there's no water to reach the heater core, you won't get heat. Ditto if no water on the temperature sensor, gauge won't register.

[5.56NATO]

Don't run it until this is sorted, losing the cooling system and running the engine will result in engine failure. Google for videos on how to replace the wp in your car, maybe you can save come money and do it yourself.

[Cypher]

Thanks guys. That's what I was afraid of. Oh well some parts go out eventually I guess. I believe this car has a timing chain, should that be replaced at the same time? Anything else I should replace while everything it ripped apart?

[Krupski]

No heat from the heater and a pegged gauge and white smoke tells me your coolant is getting into the combustion chambers. No heat out of the heater is because the cabin heater is higher than the engine radiator, and with low water/coolant there is nothing getting to the heater core.

Some cars use engine coolant as an intake pre-heater, and if the hose is leaking, the fluid would obviously be drawn into the intake, and exit as the "smoke" you saw.

If you are lucky, you might just have to replace the leaking hose. If you are not lucky, the engine was run long enough hot that the head is warped and major repairs are close at hand.

White in the EXHAUST indicates a cracked block or a bad head gasket (allowing coolant to be sucked in and burned). Water vapor coming off the engine or hoses isn't the same thing.

[JTHunter]

Krupski beat me to it.
I was going to ask if the "steam" was from the tailpipe or from under the hood.
IF the water pump impeller did break, like any spinning thing that is off balance, its sound will change.
If there is a hairline crack in the radiator that is spraying onto the fan, your radiator MAY be shot. If it is one of the plastic type, repairing it is nearly impossible.
As Number6 said, check your oil before you do anything. If it IS "chocolate milk", the car will have to towed.
If not, you can TRY putting some plain water in the radiator for now, crank up the engine and LOOK for spraying water where should not be any. This might not work if the pump is gone out however. If it does, have a second person watching the temp gauge while you look under the hood.

Good luck!

[l921428x]

Absolutely. While the case is open replace all you can and if you can get steel chains
and gears do that also. Replace hoses all of it.

Let us know what you find out.

[Cypher]

Checked and the oil looks normal so that is good.

[Cypher]

Well.... it looks like the Hillary voters that replaced the engine not long ago forgot to tighten a spring clamp around a hose and it has slowly been leaking fluid every since. The clamp was a good two inches or so up the hose and not even on the part protruding out that the hose goes around. I hope that is what it is because it will be really easy to fix.

The radiator was down at least a gallon of fluid. I put more fluid back in it and started it up and let it sit for a bit, the temp gauge never went above the halfway mark after running it for over 10 minutes. The heat started working but I noticed it would go in and out randomly blowing hot air mostly and then room temp air, then hot etc. Could this be if it is still low on fluid?

I took off the air filter to get a better look at the line. I know enough to get in trouble, can someone tell me what line this is and what it is running to?

[skorpion]

Glad to hear it was something as simple as a hose clamp! So the noise might have been from fluid hitting the fan as someone mentioned? I can see the problem hose you point out in your pics but can't help you with where it goes. Looks like a maze of hoses.

[5.56NATO]

Might be a good idea to check the rest of their work.

[Cypher]

Might be a good idea to check the rest of their work.

Yeah so much for going to the dealer because of their "high quality work".

[l921428x]

Oh but I would still be raising hell. Can tell you about the bare nipple but by looking at the picture
It looks for cooling. But if the temp still fluctuates you may still be low on coolant. Hope it works out.

[number6]

I'll add this about the intermittent heat thing. This is my best guess based on other cars, like my Jeep Grand Cherokee. When the coolant is depleted the filled back up, there are sometimes "voids", or pockets of air that the new coolant can't fill, easily.

We do a thing called "burping" the system. The vehicle is parked on an incline, front higher. The engine comes to temp (meaning the thermostat is wide open), heater on full hot. Eventually the coolant fills the air pockets, then after it cools, check & add coolant if necessary. In the past, I once parked on a steep hill for a bit (4WD, remember?), then topped the hill letting the back be higher for a bit. I guess everything was fine, but I did it anyway just to be sure.
It's not something you can see, but heat/no heat/heat is an indicator.

Your particular vehicle may not need "burping" that extreme, and it might straighten itself out after a few driver with the heater on full hot, but an air void would be my guess. It's really not a big deal unless you lose heating when you really need it.

[Cypher]

Got it tested and thank God no engine damage. Its amazing what one little clamp can do (or not do).