Q: Over heated car cranks but does not want to start

asked by on February 27, 2017

My car over heated lastnight but now i have no water or coolant inside it all spills out i try starting my car it will crank but does. Not turn on but last night it started some how it's cool off now but it leaks the coolant and nothing inside ?? but It does cranks Iike it wants to start ?
My car has an automatic transmission.

Hi There, It sounds like your car may have a blown head gasket as a result of overheating. A blown head gasket may cause a number of different symptoms. A head gasket that fails between cylinders will generally cause a misfire and potentially compression leaks from one cylinder into another. Low compression will eventually result in a rough idling engine. Damage of this type may not cause overheating, coolant in the oil or any other outward sign. Many people overlook this as the cause of engine misfires, because the blown head gasket does not also give the other more common symptoms such as steam coming from the motor or from the exhaust. When the head gasket fails between a cylinder and the coolant port, coolant may leak into the cylinder causing it to be burnt with the fuel charge in the combustion chamber. This often results in misfires on startup, especially after the engine is run, turned off and restarted. This type of failure may not always show with a compression test. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to properly diagnose the symptoms you describe.

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