So i've been putting this off for weeks, but im hoping someone may chime in on where to get started.

My girl was driving her car when it suddenly lost power, she was on the highway doing about 70 when it suddenly happened. She said she pulled over on the shoulder, but then the car gave its final push and got back up to speed, with the engine seemingly revving higher. About 2 miles down the road, she was safely able to pull off of the highway, but when exiting on the offramp, the car lost all power again. This is when i met her up, the car wouldnt crank.

I have a feeling the car overheated, even though the signs didn't show this. I was there within a few mins of her car dying (she had me on the way as it dies the first time) and there was no steam/smoke coming from the bay, and they temp gauge looked good. The reason i say i think it overheated was due to the fact that i found absolutely no water in the radiator. She's had a problem with the car loosing water (not copious amounts, needs to be topped off every few months), and i'm guessing she just forgot to check the water level. I was thinking maybe a blown headgasket, but other then checking the oil, i really am not sure how else to tell?

while typing this, i realized a few months back i fixed a crack intake tube (thanks to this forum and its handy search button) that was causing the car to idle irregularly and die upon coming to a stop. I will check this first, but if anyone else could give me a good starting point for the diagnostics i would greatly appreciate it. its almost like the car is out of gas, so im going to try starer fluid to see if that gets it going.

Thanks in advance for reading and any advice you may be able to give me!

the hose i replaced on the TB i replaced a few months back turned out fine. I tried starter fluid and got nothing different when trying to start the vehicle. I drained the oil and it didn't look out of the ordinary. Im going to go recheck it, but pouring out, it didn't seem as if water/coolant had been mixed in. I had a truck that was involved in a flood, and even after draining the motor, the first time i started it up, the excess water left caused the oil to turn a milkier then usual color. Would this be the same case for a blown headgasket?

the oil doesnt seem to have any water in it; both it was fine in appearance and about the correct amount came out after draining.

So i decided to pour some water int he cooling system, as i poured some in before we had the vehicle towed home, but there was seemingly none in there again? after about literally a min of standing there wondering where the water had been going, water started flooding out of the car. I couldnt see exactly where the stream originated from, but looking from underneath, the water was leaking from someplace higher up, but exiting out from between the oil and transmission pan, towards the drivers side. fromt he top i didnt get clear view, but the stream looked to be starting from somewhere around the bolt on the exhaust manifold, furthest towards the drivers side.

Waterpump went out? the car does have about 115k miles on it, with the engine and transmission each having about 60k miles on each. Im guessing when the motor was replaced, they used the original waterpump.

i feel ridiculous replying to my own post a million times, but since there's no edit button...

So after all my research i've concluded it is infact the water pump.

Before i decide whether or not to fix it, i have one question hopefully someone will answer. Will the bad/leaking water pump cause the car not to start??? This is now an extra vehicle, so i'm thinking we are probably going to get rid of it whether i fix it or not, but dont even want to open up that can of worms if there is something other then the waterpump....

before anything else, do a compression test. if its a blown head gasket, compression will be low in one or more cylinders. what engine? year? if you put coolant in it now, does it just leak out quickly?if there's no water in the oil, check to see if the coolant bottle has a fuel smell to it.



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there was no more coolant left in the reservoir to smell. it takes about a minute to start leaking, but eventually comes from an area near the firewall closer to the drivers side then passengers.

Which year and motor?

driver side firewall? My guess would be a radiator hose burst

1997 Cavalier Z24 4Spd Auto. Magnaflow dual exhaust.

Ugh not radiator hose.. I meant heater hose.. lol. I know there's a few in that area. Hard to reach but it's like a $2 fix. check the coolant hoses back there

1997 Cavalier Z24 4Spd Auto. Magnaflow dual exhaust.

'preciate the input guys!

Its a 00' 2.4.
i havent had the time to check for hoses, but from the way the water was streaming out, it looked like it could have been coming from a hose of some sort. I'm gonna check it out, i just dont know if i can see back there, or even get a hand to feel! lol, it should be fun!

ok so after yet putting it off again, today i decided to figure out what the prob really was, all thanks to yalls inspiration

so i found the source of the leak, tracing it using died water. Im not sure what the piece is called, but it is a lil composite neck that was on the drives side of the motor, just below the power steering resevoir. the water was dripping down, making it appear to come from the rear of the motor, near the firewall. After about an hour of removing hosing and sensor, slashing my hands on everything possible, i was able to get it out. it was severely cracked...

so here is a pic of the piece, im going to try to go to autozone and buy one here shortly.



it is the piece that connect the radiator hose to the block, i believe.
im about to google the number i found on it, hoping its a part#
24575259

it also says thermostat located in 'waterpump' on it

thanks for any help identifying it!

ok, easy enough find, it is the water outlet. autozone has one, so im going to go ahead and install it this evening.

but my question is, why would this have caused the car not to be able to start up? the crack was pretty significantly large on the outside, and the inside appeared to be falling apart where the piece actually is held in the motor. there is a sensor on the water outlet as well... is it the lack of pressure that is tripping the sensor? no CEL came on.... thanks for any input!

so that fixed the leak, but the car still wont crank. I dont even know where to start.

Stupid question - but does the car have fuel?

If it isn't starting you shoud start by checking for spark and fuel at the engine.

Not a stupid question at all, but I am 99% the car has gas in it, the guage reads over half and it has never failed. The way it died, sounded like it ran out of fuel, so I sprayed starter fluid at it just in case. I figure even if it was a fuel pump it would crank with fluid. So that leads me to spark. I'm gonna start with the plugs and go from there tomorrow

Check to see if the cat's clogged. It would cause greatly reduced power and near inability to drive, and massive heat backing up to the engine.


2001 Olds Alero (LD9)
636 whp / 543 ft-lb
@turboalero

Hi,

Pull the spark plugs and look carefully at them.
What color are they?
Are they all the same color?
They all should have deposits of combustion on them, black, grey, brown, etc.
If any one or two are clean and deposit free you have an indication of a bad head gasket. Moisture will steam off any carbon deposits and if you were to take the head off you would see that the entire offending cylinder is shiny clean and carbon free, the valves and everything!

If you find a clean plug, borrow, buy, steal a compression gauge and see what it says.

Even with a BAD gasket it should start. I have a 2.2 that was literally pouring water out of it that started and ran, horribly but it ran.

As mentioned check the basics
Fuel
Compression
Spark

Timing and other considerations come into play to make the car run good but he basics are still needed to run.

Overheating an aluminum head engine is almost never a good thing. The unit expands beyond it's design limit and often warps and cracks as a direct result. If you do get it running and don't have an issue today or next week, keep an eye on it for you MAY have an issue within the next couple of months as the damage becomes obvious. If the Gods have looked favorably upon you, you will have escaped any major damages.

Good Luck
Dave