2003 Toyota Camry Engine heating up

Tiny
JMEEL27
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 TOYOTA CAMRY
  • 122,000 MILES
Hey everyone I came here hoping for some advice on some issues I've been having with my 2003 Camry. So about 3 weeks ago I notice some issues, my car has 120,000m on it so I know its still has a lot of life. But, first I notice when I turned on the heat cool air was blowing out (Thur/Fri), then my temp gauge started to go to the very top or overheat, the next day I had the thermostat replaced, but the heat didn't come on until I rev my car idle to 2000rpm. A day later I felt a vibration in my car, then the next day upon start-up my car was violently vibrating but calmed down. I took it for a drive that night and on the way home while driving it started vibrating violently and my engine light started blinking. When I finally got back home and pop the hood it was smoke coming from the engine. I took it to my mechanic the next day and he immediately said I needed a new temperature switch because the fan wasn't coming on, which was causing my engine shake. He replaced the temp switch, I pulled off and when I got home and restarted my car about 5min later the engine started to shake again but not as violent and temp guage went up. I took it back to him immediately and the code read a cylinder 2 misfire and he noticed I was losing coolant. He kept it overnight, and added that blue devil leakage stuff, which seemed to fix the problem. He told me to change my coolant in two weeks, and when the second week came and I turned on my AC the temp guage went up again! But went back down after some driving then back up again. I did my own little coolant flush because right now money is scarce and that initial work really spent me, from watching videos that day and after some time it finally was back to normal. When I first did the "flush" I turned on the heat but it was'nt hot, so I rev my car to 2000rpm and the heat in my car became really hot as if it was working right. I drove my car around for like 20min with the heat on high for half and air on high for half and my car seemed to stay at the normal operating temperature (the gauge was in the middle). The next day I drove with the Air on and it was raining and the gauge read normal. The next day I had a feeling and when I pulled into my parking lot, placed my car in park and turned on the air my temp gauge went up, but not all the way to H though. When I rev the car to get the heat pumping the gauge went down a little to the upper line of the normal. I forgot to mention that prior to this whole incident, whenever I would run my A/C while driving, when I would park and turn my car off I would hear some gurgling or dripping for some time after toward the passeger side of the car. I'm thinking that it could possibly be the Radiator cap or I need to bleed the system, I really don't have any money to take it to the shop. Any suggestions what the reason could be?
Do you
have the same problem?
Yes
No
Friday, June 14th, 2013 AT 4:55 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
You have all the signs of a blown head gasket. Take it somewhere else as the first guy never checked or picked it up.

Roy
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Friday, June 14th, 2013 AT 6:28 PM
Tiny
JMEEL27
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Okay Thanks, so that blue devil stuff didn't work? Because he also said it could be the water pump but I don't see any leakage or puddles anywhere. I could've sworn I gotten a new head gasket like 4 yrs ago from him but I can't remember. Do you know an average price range replacing it normally runs? Or if its a DIY job?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Friday, June 14th, 2013 AT 6:50 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,797 POSTS
Those sealers never work. They eventually end up clogging the radiator and cost more money to fix.

Basic job around 800-1000. Not reccomended for DIY.

Roy
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Friday, June 14th, 2013 AT 6:56 PM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links