Radiator explosion, now what?

M

mbdfahrer

New member
Car: Grandpa's 1990 Toyota Camry



Coming home from LAX, the car overheated/radiator exploded. There is/was dirty rusty coolant all over the front bumper and hood. I've already washed it (per mom's request) and everything is still stained. What steps should be taken now to clean everything off?



Bumper:

DSCN1783.jpg




Underside of the hood:

DSCN1788.jpg




And the engine:

DSCN1787.jpg




I took a few shots of the hood itself but they didn't come out



Suggestions please :help:



PS: Kids, this is what happens when you don't keep your vehicle maintained, it'll fail in glorious fashion.:wall
 
Yikes. I wonder how much corrosion and buildup would be in a radiator that is in a car that old?



I would probably take the car to a coin op and give the engine a really good power wash; maybe even soak it in degreaser beforehand.



As for the front bumper, if that is black textured plastic, you could take the bumper off, clean it up, and respray it.
 
Start small and work your way up IMO... try a basic degreaser, brush, and hose... if that doesn't work step up to a pressure washer and maybe some slightly more aggressive cleaners. Thats certainly a big mess.
 
The bumper is either rubber or soft plastic. It was back in the day when you ordered a base model vehicle, it didn't come with color coded bumpers. I've never washed a engine before, Is there stuff I should cover up due to electrical concerns, and do it I wash it when the engine is hot or cold?
 
The coolant was basically in the car from factory up until 2005, when it FINALLY got changed. I don't think his mechanic flushed it, or didn't a do a very thorough job flushing. Any recommendations for degreaser (Simple Green? Regular dish soap?)?
 
Some say that Simple Green stains aluminum parts, so it's up to you. I've used Simple Green, and haven't seemed to have noticed any problems.



I don't remember what other good degreasers there are out there, but there a lot of ones that are better than Simple Green.
 
The bumper should come clean with a good APC, or Simple Green and a scrub brush. Then use a vinyl/rubber dressing. A good cleaner polish should clean the paint up fine.
 
mbdfahrer said:
I've never washed a engine before, Is there stuff I should cover up due to electrical concerns, and do it I wash it when the engine is hot or cold?
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I use simple green.



Definitely try to cover any exposed electrical terminals, including the battery cables to prevent excessive corrosion. Spray the engine WHILE ITS RUNNING that way if you're causing an issue (ie - water into the intake) you'll see symptoms and be able to stop before you really mess things up. Just pay close attention to the idle while you're washing. I also like to leave the engine running and the hood closed after I'm done for a bit to allow the engine heat to evaporate some (if not most) of the water.



I'd offer more specific advice, but I'm not to familiar with that particular year of car.
 
Citrus degreasers work very well in this situation as well. You don't need to be overly convered about getting anything under the hood wet. Just use common sense and don't spray directly into the intake etc etc.... Basically don't be a moron and you'll be just fine. Simple green works great to. The front bumper might just be easier to respay with some rattlecan black. Probably gonna need some good heated water to get rid of most of it consider what temp it was at when the rad blew. Probably baked right on to alot of it.
 
Amazing roll off is advertised to clean off rust.. A member on another board tried it on a rusted screen door handle it it worked.



I even diluted it and used it on a stubborn trim stain (owner had dealt with it for a year)and voila..clean as a whistle
 
Be careful when spraying that engine. Ive had water get down around the spark plugs before. Then youve got to take all the plugs wire out and blow the water out of the holes.
 
Basically do the following for the engine:



- Run engine for 5 or so minutes to warm it up

- Cover up battery and some of the electrical connections

- Spray degreaser onto the valve cover and other areas that are dirty

- Clean nooks and crannies with a brush

- Hose out the engine bay avoiding electricals (and exhaust manifold??)

- Start the vehicle and shut the hood to let it dry out





Sorry if I sound like I'm asking redundant questions, trying to be as prepared as possible and on the safe side.
 
mbdfahrer said:
- Spray degreaser onto the valve cover and other areas that are dirty

- Clean nooks and crannies with a brush

- Run engine for 5 or so minutes to warm it up

- LEAVE THE ENGINE IDLING DURING THE CLEANING PROCESS

- Cover up battery and some of the electrical connections (not totally necessary)

- Hose out the engine bay avoiding electricals (and exhaust manifold??)

- Leave the vehicle running and shut the hood to let it dry out

- Shut it off after a few minutes (10-15 should do it), pop hood, towel dry any residual water.
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Corrected it for you.
 
Here's a few more pictures taken today



Its overcast but you can see the stains left by the coolant

DSCN1790.jpg




Another shot of the bumper:

DSCN1791.jpg




And better shots of the engine:

DSCN1792.jpg


DSCN1793.jpg
 
Dylan, I don't really see the need to idle the engine while degreasing the engine... I just warm the engine up a bit, shut it off, do my degreasing, and either let it air dry/dry with a blower.



To the OP, you probably want to get that stuff cleaned ASAP, as coolant is corrosive. Good luck :) I don't think the engine cleaning will be much of a problem. The bumper, I'm not so sure...
 
mikebai1990 said:
Dylan, I don't really see the need to idle the engine while degreasing the engine... I just warm the engine up a bit, shut it off, do my degreasing, and either let it air dry/dry with a blower.
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Whatever works for you. I've just always found that leaving the engine idling gives you an indicator for problems if any. If its off and you're blasting away with the pressure washer, knock a plug wire (for example) loose and keep going, making the problem worse you won't know what happened until you go to start the vehicle.



On the other hand if you leave it idling while you wash and knock that same plug wire loose you'll know immediately as the engine will stumble or idle will become irregular, giving you a chance to stop before doing more damage, as well as giving you a general indication of what part of the engine you were spaying when the problem occurred making it easier to fix/diagnose.



Again, its rare that you'd do damage with a pressure washer in the first place, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of pain.
 
I also do NOT recommend that you leave the engine running while you wash it. Thats just wanting something to go wrong.



A slow steady stream of water works best. You do not want to force water in places it doesnt belong.
 
Dylan, what I'm thinking is that with all the belts and the electrical parts running, it's quite dangerous to be spraying water in areas that are constantly moving and conducting electricity. IMO, that is much more dangerous than doing a engine detail with the engine off.
 
mikebai1990 said:
Dylan, what I'm thinking is that with all the belts and the electrical parts running, it's quite dangerous to be spraying water in areas that are constantly moving and conducting electricity. IMO, that is much more dangerous than doing a engine detail with the engine off.
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HAHA... what do you think happens during a heavy rain storm? Or when you banzai thru a deep puddle?? The underhood area of a vehicle is built to withstand water... obviously not to be submerged, but spraying water on a running engine is not dangerous. I've run trucks and jeeps thru the waves at Pismo Beach half way up the grill and never had a problem short of having the filter suck up some water.



That being said I don't recommend you try and scrub things down, or stick your hand in there while its running, but I think that goes without saying.
 
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