tennis_pr0

I have a 2006 nissan 50z. I got into a moderate accident about two weeks ago, I rear ended someone. After the accident, my car was driving fine, so I just figured I would drive it home. About half way to my home, the engine started to smoke badly. The smoke was coming out of my engine and tail pipes. I continued driving it home as it was late and just wanted to get home. (I know, very stupid idea)

Anyway, I took it to the body shop to get fixed, but am worried that I did some kind of serious damage to my engine by driving it while it was overheating. I was leaking coolant, and the guy at the body shop said that was where the smoke was coming from. He said the computer read that the engine was at 270 degrees while I was driving it home.

He said there was no damage from that. he checked it and took it to his mechanic and he assured me I didn't do any damage to the engine other than the damage done by the accident itself. He said the engine is running perfectly fine. He said the engine was running a little hot but he replaced the thermostat and it is fine now.

I am just worried I did some kind of long term damage to my engine by driving it while it was smoking and overheating. He assured me the engine is fine, but I am just worrying. Any feedback guys?

BipJip

check compresion in all the cylinders. if ok than you lucked out. if not you probly blew a head gasket ( and possibily cracked a head). Good luck!

iideadeyeii

iTrader: (6)

I wouldn't drive my geo metro if it overheated let alone my 350z.

tonyzS/C03

iTrader: (3)

tennis_pr0

The body shop that I took it to took to a mechanic they use and they did a compression test and he said it was fine.

350z006

iTrader: (79)

SO Basically your body shop is saying that the accident damaged the thermostat and the car should be fine now?

tennis_pr0

No no the radiator was damaged, antifreeze was leaking, all that stuff was fixed and replaced.

godzilla619

ask him for the compression numbers on all 6 cyclinders to see what the differences are. if there is more than 10% difference your car is not fine. whether you deem it worth the cost of repairing is up to you. Your body shop guy is probably an approved vendor of your insurance co. and you already told him that your driving caused your engine to overheat after the accident so this repair will most likely not be covered by your deductable.

tennis_pr0

I called my main mechanic that works at nissan, and he said if the engine was damaged from overheating, I would know it when driving it. He said just keep my eye on the temp gauge and check the oil ot make sure its not a thick brown color over the next 100 miles. Is this true that if there was something wrong with my engine, lets say damaged from overheating, that I would notice it for sure? I just picked my car up from the shop and drove it about 20 miles and it felt fine.

tennis_pr0

It was the radiator fluid that was leaking out, I drove it home (I know very bad idea) while the car was overheating, for probably about 15 minutes. The mechanic said I luckily did not do any engine damage other than the damage that was already done.

godzilla619

in all honesty there is no way for people on the internet to diagnose what might be. You didn't even say how long you drove your car over heating. 1 mile no big deal, 10 miles deal, 100+ miles youre f----- stupid! Overheating can cause several things to happen, like head gasket failure, water in your oil which will make it that brownish color your mechanic mentioned, warped/cracked head. check your coolant and oil levels frequently to see if they are going down more than usual. of course you happen to drive an 06 with known issues with oil consumption so hopefully you are familar with how your car consumes oil per miles driven. but like i said before get your compression checked with the numbers to compare the differences between the cylinders and look up the acceptable compression numbers in a service manual.

tennis_pr0

Thank you for the reply. I am keeping my eye on the collant, oil, and engine temp. My 06 does not have the oil consumption problem because it is an auto. If something major was damaged from the overheating, wouldn't I notice it while driving? Like the thing you mentioned about the compression, if that was off wouldn't I notice it while driving, i mean wouldn't something major like that be obvious?

tennis_pr0

My main question is that if something serious did happen from the engine overheating, wouldn't it show obvious symptoms?

tennis_pr0

To the previous reply, the body shop that fixed my car did do a "pressure test". This is the same thing as a compression test, right? He did the pressure test and said everything is fine.

rcdash

iTrader: (18)

What's done is done. Don't worry about it, particularly if the accident was your fault. If it was someone else's, then you want all the documentation to ensure that if the motor fails down the road, you can get the other driver's insurance company to pay for it. The mechanic telling you the pressure test was fine is not documentation. Ask for the results in writing. If you're not sure how to interpret it, scan it and post it up.

tennis_pr0

I didn't get the documentation or anything, I mean I trust the guy who fixed my car, nissan highly recommends him and he has done good work on my car before. He said he did a pressure test and it was fine. I mean if you really think it's necessary for me to post the results on here I can get the documents and do that...

jtbinvalrico

There's a difference between pressure testing the cooling system and a compression test on the cylinders.

122554

iTrader: (9)

I guess my first question involves changing the thermostat. How do you suppose the thermostat got damaged from an accident???

A pressure test is only going to tell you if the coolant system is holding pressure.

tennis_pr0

I understand your question about the thermostat. After he fixed everything, he said the engine was still running a little warm, so he changed the thermostat, now it is fine. I have been drving it and it is not running warm and it is running fine. If I did any damage by driving it while it was overheating wouldn't I know if something was wrong? Wouldn't there be obvious signs?

godzilla619

catostrophic failure yes you would notice. weakening the head gasket but not completely breaking the seal, no wouldn't notice driving normally. you wont know till you drive it aggressivley or over time and something bad happens. ethier way you were the cause so just drive it normaly and be vigilant of checking your oil and coolant for any change in levels or unusual color. if your engine does let go early you know the cause.