WTF! My Engine IS FU*KED

Ok, I went to go flush my cooling system and guess what happened. Water came spewing out my exhaust! I followed the directions exactly. I dont understand. Ok, i spliced a t-fitting into the heater inlet hose to connect the hose to it, then i drained the radiator and closed the plug. then i turned on the engine and let it idle and turned on the heater and turned on the hose. The car starts sputtering really bad and whaite smoke comes out the exhaust and finally water starts spewing out the exhaust. It happened for about 20-30 sec before i shut the car off. Yep, thats right. Wow, my car is fu*ked huh? PLease, if any of you could give me any info on how bad this was and how much its gonna cost to get it fixed. Did it totally screw up my engine? Cause Im guessing every part of my engine is full of water, right?

It sounds like you have a blown head gasket. The white smoke from the exhaust is a good sign of that. The engine should be fixable but it will take time and money since you will need to replace the head gaskets. If one blew have them both changed at the same time. Can cost up to $1K depending on labor rate and whether or not you have a cracked or damaged head. Was the engine cold when you tried to flush the radiator? It just doesn't make sense that this is the first and only symptoms you had of the head gasket going bad although it is not unheard of. I also doubt that every part of the engine is full of water. You were getting water into the combustion chamber (cylinder) and that is what caused the white smoke to come out the tailpipe. You can change the head gaskets yourself if you have time and the proper tools to do it, if not have the car towed to a garage and get it done there. Costs more but you won't screw anything up that way. PS. Don't drive the car until it is fixed.

You can also check and see if any water got into the oil by checking the dip stick or drain the oil.....~Larry~

And look for a foamy residue on the inside of the oil filler cap.

how long did you let it idle before you turned on the hose???

ya it sounds like u could of possibly blow the head gasket or gaskets your self if u didnt turn on the hose flush it fast enough - i always, if flushing a coolant system drain then hook the hose up an start the hose b4 i start the engine to be sure i dont blow a gasket or do any other serious damage.... I would follow agree with GTP Dad And FOLLOW HIS Thoughts on what you should do - but no offense man - if you did that by changing the fluid then i dont think you should test yourself an change the head gasket - because it sounds like deffinetly thats what happend ..... GOOD LUCK MAN ..... Pay the extra money an have a certified shop do it for you just so your safer an dont have to risk payin more in the long run...

Yeah...sounds like the motor overheated and blew a gasket to me as well.

Ok, well i think i've figured out what i did wrong, which when looking back on it, was really stupid. I guess i actually spliced it into the INTAKE vacuum hose NOT the heater inlet hose. I should have noticed there was no coolant in the tube but oh well, i'll sure as f be more carefull next time. Im used to different engines than these pontiac ones. And the two hoses are right next to each other. I really should have asked which one was the right one just to be sure, but i just wanted to get it done finally. Well, my car is at the shop (towed of course). Tommorrow i'll find out just how screwed i am. Im hoping since i shut the engine off and it didnt just die (or blow up) that i didnt bend anything. The tow truck guy said i'll probobly need to replace the cat since it got so much water in it. Hopefully that all i'll have to reaplace...

man, as long as you didn't hear any weird engine noise, like breaking a rod or bending the crankshaft.

Well, if you guys want to know what happened, here goes. The shop said i need to replace my brake booster bla bla. I have no idea what that is but aparently it had water in it. $350. Spark plugs needed to be replaced, $150. Yeah, i know 10 bucks to do it myself, but after what happened... Oil needed to be changed. They said they took the plugs out and cranked it over and got it running for about 1/2 hour and it ran fine and had no knocking or anything. They said my piston rings would be fine too. In all they said it would be $1,200! WOW, that sucks. But i guess its better than a new motor. The guy said my motor was a $4000 engine. LOL, my car is worth less than that.

Consider yourself lucky that this is all it cost. Although $150 to change the plugs is a little high. You're lucky that you shut the engine down when you did otherwise you could have destroyed the bearings and wiped everything. Happy Motoring!!!

Well, if you guys want to know what happened, here goes. The shop said i need to replace my brake booster bla bla. I have no idea what that is but aparently it had water in it. $350. Spark plugs needed to be replaced, $150. Yeah, i know 10 bucks to do it myself, but after what happened... Oil needed to be changed. They said they took the plugs out and cranked it over and got it running for about 1/2 hour and it ran fine and had no knocking or anything. They said my piston rings would be fine too. In all they said it would be $1,200! WOW, that sucks. But i guess its better than a new motor. The guy said my motor was a $4000 engine. LOL, my car is worth less than that.

Well, now you can put a sign on the back of your car that says:

"I am a dumbass, but my car still runs."

Thats a jk. Actually I'm kinda glad you posted that cuz I was planning on changing / flushing and now I will be extra vigilant! I'm glad you appreciated the close call though.

man, as long as you didn't hear any weird engine noise, like breaking a rod or bending the crankshaft.

Ya he could of eventually broke a rod or 2 but thats if he didnt shut the engine off right away and it takes more than what happend to bend a crankshaft.... the motor would of seized up b4 the crank bent because of that....



Anyway - thats not too bad - an its good ya got the car towed :P sounds like ya did everything correct like GTPDad said an myself get it towed an check.... an i do agree the plugs do seem a bit steep for a plug change its a 5/8 dp socket and a exstension an turn left then reverse process with new plugs - how the hell is that 150 dollars lol - i would check the shop your at - they might be screwing you around but it sounds like they know what is wrong.... did the plugs get flooded with water an fuel?

Well, if you guys want to know what happened, here goes. The shop said i need to replace my brake booster bla bla. I have no idea what that is but aparently it had water in it. $350. Spark plugs needed to be replaced, $150. Yeah, i know 10 bucks to do it myself, but after what happened... Oil needed to be changed. They said they took the plugs out and cranked it over and got it running for about 1/2 hour and it ran fine and had no knocking or anything. They said my piston rings would be fine too. In all they said it would be $1,200! WOW, that sucks. But i guess its better than a new motor. The guy said my motor was a $4000 engine. LOL, my car is worth less than that.

the only way ya really can get water in the brake booster if the mc was some how open to water make exposed during a rain storm - ..... just seems kinda wierd thing to go with antifreeze getting in the vacume lines....

lol oh dude - be glad you dont have twin turbo,intercooled stealth all wheel drive all wheel steering that car has the most vacume lines an hoses i have ever seen on a car besides my buddies VR4 which is identical... if you see someone with one of them - ask them too let u check out whats under the hood - only the twin turbo models are that way - check it out man if you get the chance some time

If you read the whole posting, he accidentally t-eed into the brake booster vacuum line instead of the heater hose, Hence the water in the brake booster.

hey man i got a story to help you feel a little better 747. my uncle joe (not related by blood) went to my uncle albert's garage and asked how to fix his squeking brakes. so albert tells him to put grease on the rotors and pads, which he did. man he started the car up, put it in gear and then crashed right into his garage. lol

Lol. I just read the invoice from the shop and i'm not planning on taking a car to a shop anytime in the near future. They charged me up the ass. $56.28 for 6 plugs (platinum). Replaced air filter, fuel filter. Replaced power brake booster $205.90 and $189.75 for labor. Fuel injection flush $106.50 for labor. Lube, oil, filter. Coolant service $66 labor. + total 6% shop supply charge "to cover the materieal cost not billed in the rapair of your car." I dont know what that is. Total of $661.99 labor, $325.05 parts... $1090.22 total.
Does that seem right for the spark plugs? $56.28? they also charged me for gas. Why would they do that?\
I've definitely leaned my lesson though. I will be MUCH more carefull in the future. I really should have checked if that was the right hose, i just guessed.

it's a damn shame that on the first day of mechanics school they tell you "remember fellas the customer always pay" and its the truth. the price for the plugs sounds about right for a garage (they're making $2 on each one). i don't know why they needed to flush the fuel injection. shop supply are paper towels, liquid wrench or wd-40, toilet paper for that half hour trip to the bathroom(which you pay for in labour) and other misc stuff.