dieseljunkie
Veteran Member
Last night doing about 60 mph in the middle lane of a 5 lane parkway. The dash suddenly filled with smoke which heavily obscured vision through the windshield. I was barely able to see and navigate through traffic to pull into a Gulf station that luckily was 1/4 mile ahead. I thought it was electrical at first but there was no burning smell. It turned out to be coolant. The windshield was wet on the inside from the condensed steam. Popped the hood and saw signs of coolant also.
Called AAA for a tow and was told they are not allowed to tow on parkways. They wanted to transfer me to the State Police to call an authorized tow operator (probably $$$). Per Google Maps, I was 1/2 mile from an exit. So, about 20 minutes later, I drove off the Parkway and called AAA again.
This morning, I found a broken water pump belt. What probably happened was the belt broke while I was on the hwy. Coolant temp spiked from no coolant flow, pressure increased till either the heater core blew or the hose connection to heater core blew off.
Do you think the head gasket was damaged? Or just the heater core blew or hose blew off?
My plan is to bypass the heater core, put on a new belt, fill with coolant and see if the head gasket is ok first. If so, I will pull the heater core.
Called AAA for a tow and was told they are not allowed to tow on parkways. They wanted to transfer me to the State Police to call an authorized tow operator (probably $$$). Per Google Maps, I was 1/2 mile from an exit. So, about 20 minutes later, I drove off the Parkway and called AAA again.
This morning, I found a broken water pump belt. What probably happened was the belt broke while I was on the hwy. Coolant temp spiked from no coolant flow, pressure increased till either the heater core blew or the hose connection to heater core blew off.
Do you think the head gasket was damaged? Or just the heater core blew or hose blew off?
My plan is to bypass the heater core, put on a new belt, fill with coolant and see if the head gasket is ok first. If so, I will pull the heater core.