Think the motor survived?

[SimpleGreen]

There might be a few 'mechanics' here that can give their 2 cents

Truck in question is '98 Chevrolet S10 w/ 2.2L 4 cylinder, auto trans.

While we were out of town my mothers b/f was coming back from work, said truck started to overheat and died. Filled the water up and got it started and it was running pretty rough. Well on our way back in town I stopped to look at it. Sure enough the radiator is cracked. Cranked it up, she def sounds down on compression. I go home, get my truck and a friends dolly, drive back to Baton Rouge, loaded it up and brought it home. It barely had enough power to get on the dolly.

Think I may be able to change the head gasket/surface the head and replace the radiator and she'll come back to life? The oil still looks clean and the oil pressure is good, no water contamination. Just curious. I'm going to start tearing the top end down this week after work.

 

[jms]

I am or was a shade tree mechanic since my early teens . I would say try getting a radaitor first ,if the is no water in the oil. Did you happen to see any oil in the water ? If not your head gasket might be ok. Just eleminate one thing at a time .Just depends on how hot you an it. Good luck.

 

[SimpleGreen]

I am or was a shade tree mechanic since my early teens . I would say try getting a radaitor first ,if the is no water in the oil. Did you happen to see any oil in the water ? If not your head gasket might be ok. Just eleminate one thing at a time .Just depends on how hot you an it. Good luck.

Water is way down. When I pull the radiator out I'll see what pours out of it.

 

[Bayoupiper]

Depending on how long he drove it after it overheated he could have cooked the oil out of the motor.




.

 

[Gator 45/70]

Compression check will tell you plenty...

 

[SimpleGreen]

Compression check will tell you plenty...

Ya, I have one in my toolbox. I'll do that, too. Just figured I'd get some ideas

 

[13f3p]

Compression check will tell you plenty...

this

 

[Neil09]

I know when this happened to a little nissan hardbody, I had it redone with shaved head and what not. Ran hot again the next day again. I would probably just find another used motor myself. With how popular they are, shouldnt be hard to find

 

[SimpleGreen]

I told him since now is a good time to go ahead and LS V8 swap it Already did it to my '93 fullsize...

 

[Neil09]

But would cracked radiator cause it to run bad?..

 

[SimpleGreen]

I know when this happened to a little nissan hardbody, I had it redone with shaved head and what not. Ran hot again the next day again. I would probably just find another used motor myself. With how popular they are, shouldnt be hard to find

If it comes down to a new motor I'll probably wash my hands of it. '98 S10's aren't worth it. These trucks are worth less than nothing. This thing has been repainted once and its cracking on the hood and roof, a number of dents and scrapes, sounds like it needs suspension work, etc. This truck already lost one engine because my mother cooked one (from overheating, busted hose) several years ago. It's actually her other truck. T

 

[SimpleGreen]

But would cracked radiator cause it to run bad?..

Nope, but it would lose water. And with it running bad I'm betting she lost a head gasket. I'll compression test it soon...

 

[themcfarland]

the nissan is aluminum, not sure about the chuby.. do the compression test, and change oil and coolant.. and see what it tells you

 

[SimpleGreen]

the nissan is aluminum, not sure about the chuby.. do the compression test, and change oil and coolant.. and see what it tells you

I think this is an all iron POS but I'm not sure. I did the valve cover gasket once.

On the bright side I don't think its a SOHC motor. I found one online and it has a side slung cam with push rods. If that's the case atleast getting the head off is easy.

 

[Neil09]

Nope, but it would lose water. And with it running bad I'm betting she lost a head gasket. I'll compression test it soon...

Thats what I figured when you said it ran bad. You can maybe find a cheap motor for under $500, still a cheap truck, better than nothing?

 

[alcopone1]

i did a head job on a 2000 sunfire with a 2.2, head was so warp had to get another one came to me not running change head
and gasket runs like a champ now , fyi not a bad or hard job

 

[SimpleGreen]

i did a head job on a 2000 sunfire with a 2.2, head was so warp had to get another one came to me not running change head
and gasket runs like a champ now

I have a great engine shop like two blocks away. I'm gonna bring it to him and see what they think. I just popped the hood. SO MUCH CRAP has to come out to get that stupid head off. It sure ain't no V8...

 

[jimdana1942]

Uh vacuum gauge will tell you alot and it's easier than using a comp. tester.

 

[rob52]

I recently did the same to my Chevy. Had a leaking radiator, over heated the engine and by the time I got it cooled down and fixed the leak the engine started running bad. It definately had a miss. I suspect that at the very best you have a blown gasket. In my case ( although I didn't check) I believe I had a cracked head. I never seen water in the oil but lost water about every 3 or 4 days with no leaks. I suspect the water was dripping on a piston and burning off. My fix was pulling the engine and replacing with a new crate engine which was my plan even before the old engine overheated. I went from a 305 to a 350 and it took a day to do it. It might have saved me a few dollars to pull the heads but the amount of work to do so would have been about the same and a new crate engine (not rebuilt) doesn't really cost that much if you do the work yourself.

 

[Sigforty]

I have a great engine shop like two blocks away. I'm gonna bring it to him and see what they think. I just popped the hood. SO MUCH CRAP has to come out to get that stupid head off. It sure ain't no V8...

Womacks? The 2.2 is an iron block. Just got through working on one two weekends ago. They definitely have a lot of crap in the way on those engines that make them a little tough to work one.