Swerv Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hey guys, Last week I noticed coolant leaking from the front of my car. Figured a faulty or worn radiator had finally decided to give out. Seems that the thermostat malfunctioned which caused the radiator to pop, cracked the overflow tank, warped the head and pistons and blew the head gasket. The mechanic is a friend of a friend and said to replace the thermostat, coolant overflow tank, radiator, new head gasket, machine the pistons, new main belt and water tank was going to be between $3,400 to $4K. I NEVER got any warning indicator light to say the thermostat malfunctioned or anything. The temp guage never went past half way ever.... Does this seem right to you? Should I have gotten a warning indicator light for faulty thermostat? Does this price seem fair? Should Dodge pitch in if no warning light was present? Its a 2009 Dodge Journey SXT V6 with 60,000 miles. Always took care of her and ran synthetic. Did suspension on her and everything. Please help dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Must have been a epic fail of your temp gauge to not give some kind of warning. You might be better off looking for a used engine dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty256 Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 That baby had to have gotten very hot , with lots of steam blowing out...never heard of Pistons warping ...heads yes . I would check with another mechanic . . How do you know if the head is warped dhh3 and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 (edited) Hard to believe it got that hot without any outward indication. I'd get a second opinion if you don't know this for sure. Sounds like someone is trying to take you for a ride. Edited October 16, 2015 by jkeaton casey sohc and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcaliber81 Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 That sounds fishy if your head was warped and then head gasket gone you would know casey sohc and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty256 Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 That's a lot to say is wrong with out doing a tear down . You would have noticed a lot of steam if it got hot enough to do all that . Get another mechanic.. A lot to go wrong at the same time also . I have termostats cause a over heat but you cap should have blown off pressure . Surprised he did not say the water pump was bad also... Raditor is a easy fix along with the tank . Replace that and the termostat jkeaton, dhh3 and OhareFred 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj cowboy Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 The car wouldn't run well at all if that much damage was done. You don't machine pistons btw. You replace them, and machine the cylinder bores in the block. Is it running on 5 cylinders? dhh3, OhareFred and jkeaton 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted October 16, 2015 Report Share Posted October 16, 2015 Did you ever determine where the leaking coolant was coming from? This would give you a strong indication as to what actually happened. jkeaton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swerv Posted October 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 Hello everyone, Sorry to be absent. Took the car to a few places and lo and behold, everyone seemed to have the same opinion. Even had the luxury of taking it to the "family mechanic" a ways off and got the same response. Final verdict - Thermo out, fan out, radiator cracked, overflow tank cracked, head warped, pistons fine and gaskets gone (obviously) and water pump. They did not find any water in the engine so he advised not to replace the entire engine as I "roll the dice" buying a used engine. With there being no water he said all of the bearings and what not will be fine. He said their diagnostics found a good amount of engine exhaust in the head which tells them the gasket is blown. He did say I could continue to operate but it is a potential hazard if it decides to heat up again. At this point I am making the repairs and reaching out to Chrysler to see why no light was thrown and why my temp gauge never climbed higher than normal. Will keep you guys updated as best as possible! dhh3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mauricio Pelissari Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Very strange.... the only common point in that is the coolant tank cracked (Probably the 1st thing that went and caused the rest to go), that seems to be very very common on high millage, well i could say that you wouldn't see much of a temperature raise until the fan crapped out since the electronics would be trying hard to maintain the temperature down, you would note if the level of coolant drop... that is what happen to my, 1 day just was hearing the fan cut in and out on high speed, stopped to check, no coolant, look for leaks found the tank it self cracked, got a new one, flushed the system and added new coolant, no problems since... probably will happen again after a certain mileage again, after all as discussed in other topics is made of plastics, heating up and down quite often.... hope you get your fixed for good... casey sohc and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkeaton Posted October 24, 2015 Report Share Posted October 24, 2015 Lesson learned I hope. Open your hood every now and then and check fluid levels. I do this every time I wash the car. Once a month at least. Call me old school but I don't put much faith in electronics telling me when to do things. casey sohc and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhh3 Posted October 24, 2015 Report Share Posted October 24, 2015 I check mine when I add washer fluid. casey sohc and jkeaton 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty256 Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Lesson learned I hope. Open your hood every now and then and check fluid levels. I do this every time I wash the car. Once a month at least. Call me old school but I don't put much faith in electronics telling me when to do things. I do it every time I fill up with gas , oil water brake fluids transmission fluid ... Just a good habit to get in to so nothing pops up .. jkeaton and dhh3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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