2010 toyota camry, coolant boilling & engine low power

Asked by sakaki0914 Feb 27, 2017 at 12:28 AM about the 2010 Toyota Camry SE

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

About 4 days ago, all of a sudden my Camry started to have white smoke coming out from the front, so I immediately stopped my car and open up the bonnet and wondering what's wrong.
All I saw was coolant everywhere and a empty coolant tank, seems like a little overheat coolant explosion. And so I had my mechanician Justin, to look at my car and he said my car needs a new coolant tank and a radiator, thus I had him to replace those for me.

2 days ago after Justin replaced the parts, the car is now having another situation, worse situation.
As I have had a little test drive after the fix for about 5 miles, I could hear the boiling sound of the coolant while driving after the first mile, and I can actually see the coolant boiling inside the coolant tank when I opened up the bonnet; the temperature indicator's always pointing at "H"; the engine's start giving low power, which in other words the car is not accelerating normally; and I can feel that the engine's choking (I had opened the bonnet and felt that myself by placing my hand on the engine).

I had a guess that the boiling coolant problem might be caused by a bad thermostat, but I had no idea about the engine one.
What could be wrong and it that hard to fix?

Hope these are the only major problems I'll be facing......

12 Answers

59,725

White smoke & coolant boiling & running Hot & low power equals bad head gasket.

1 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful
59,725

I would also change the thermostat when doing the head gasket repair, it may have blown the gasket after running hot, but the exhaust in coolant is the boiling you see or hear and could easily blow off the coolant tank cap which I would replace too so at this point you have a new tank, radiator now if the tank did not come with a new cap buy one new and a thermostat and a head gasket kit, and it needs resurfaced too since it warped by running it hot and if it has higher miles have new valve stem guide seals put on it..

1 people found this helpful.
59,725

Just as a note understand some people differ on this but it is my opinion that a warped head resurfaced and reinstalled will again in the future warp and blow the head gasket again, so you may wish to buy a new one, not a remanufactured as it most likely is a warped head too, but if you need to get by with it a few years it will make it that far if it does not get ran hot again.

1 people found this helpful.

Thank you enginecreator, your opinion sounds very reliable. I've already made an appointment with the repair center that they are going to exterminate my Camry tomorrow. Hope the car will be perfectly fix after this...... nobody like accidents and malfunctions, right?

21,930

You might also advise the repair person to check Toyota Service Bulletins for your make ...model....year. I seem to remember problems with Cylinder Head Bolts which need replacing. Re-using the old bolts with a new head gasket results in a repeat repair.

1 people found this helpful.
21,930

Are you aware of the issue with threads stripping out when you remove head bolts?

last_chance_garage: I've never fixed my car myself before so I'm not aware of the issue. All I can tell is that the engine is somehow choking, guess this is a result of the bolts problem?

21,930

Unknown. I am just addressing a head gasket repair on a 4 cylinder toyota engine of the year indicated above. Engine ...choking...could be caused be many other failures on this vehicle. How many miles?

21,930

I see...well if you decide to repair this issue yourself you might Google your make model year and engine type and HEAD GASKET REPAIR. This is a repair requiring knowledge, equipment and special tools.

2 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Camry

Looking for a Used Camry in your area?

CarGurus has 952 nationwide Camry listings starting at $2,212.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Reelin68
    Reputation
    34,650
  • #2
    Tony Ciccotelli
    Reputation
    19,700
  • #3
    Tony Ciccotelli
    Reputation
    5,700
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Honda Accord
44 Great Deals out of 907 listings starting at $2,799
Used Toyota Corolla
120 Great Deals out of 1,950 listings starting at $1,995
Used Honda Civic
159 Great Deals out of 3,391 listings starting at $2,230
Used Toyota RAV4
79 Great Deals out of 2,040 listings starting at $3,499
Used Toyota Camry Hybrid
22 Great Deals out of 243 listings starting at $5,995
Used Toyota Avalon
24 listings starting at $5,388
Used Lexus IS
26 Great Deals out of 343 listings starting at $5,800
Used Lexus ES
6 Great Deals out of 197 listings starting at $4,500
Used Nissan Altima
27 Great Deals out of 672 listings starting at $2,000
Used Toyota Tacoma
55 Great Deals out of 1,032 listings starting at $8,708
Used Honda CR-V
89 Great Deals out of 3,819 listings starting at $1,995
Used Toyota 4Runner
14 Great Deals out of 328 listings starting at $9,900
Used Toyota Highlander
25 Great Deals out of 712 listings starting at $6,495
Used Dodge Charger
43 Great Deals out of 606 listings starting at $4,888

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.