yea you may have blown the head gasket causing the overheating. BUT you decided to drive it anyways causing a fried motor..You can try to replace the head gasket but the likelyhood you warped the heads is pretty good and if you warped the heads you may have other internal issues to worry about. it may be cheaper to just replace the motor..You can crank a freid motor it just didnt get hot enough to weld to the cylinder walls yet. To answer the question from what you described might as well buy a new car..

(new to automotive class)head gaskets are just the seal that goes between the head and block, and it would overheat if the radiator was busted. i don't think you would need a new engine if it still cranked, which means it isn't seized. check if anything sprays out or air leaks out from the top of the engine when you crank it over. if so it is the head gasket. if not then i don't know.

If you had turned it off when it first began to overheat it might have only needed a radiator or head gasket, depending on what actually failed.

But driving it until it cooked completely will have badly damaged the engine. Warped or cracked cylinder heads etc.

New engine is probably the best option, or a good used one if you can find one.

head gasket for an import isnt the same price as for a domestic. imports will normally cost more. I wont take the first mechanics word for it and neither should you get a second opinion and not from your friend who hasnt looked at the car acyually have another shop check it

HI, I would go with your friend and do a head gasket and thermostat. There is NO way you would have exhaust in your radiator.. find a different shop or go with your friends idea...

good luck

tim

My guess from your description is a blown head gasket.

More than likely you would feel better if the *dealer of the car told you what was wrong with the motor.

So......now the trolls have reached the auto section. But come-on: nobuddy is that dumb.

whats the car worth ? might not be worth fixing

I was driving up to Flagstaff from Phoenix when my car began overheating...i kept driving several minutes to get off at the next exit and immediately i turned the car off and let the radiator cool.

I checked for leaks, there were none...however there was no visible coolant inside the radiator...so after it cooled i added a jug of water just to get me to the next gas station. When i turned the car on i noticed that it was very shaky until i got to 20 mph. it also sounded weird when i turned the key,

When i got to the gas station which was a few miles from the previous exit, the car wouldn't turn on anymore all it did was make that crank noise.

After i had it towed to a mechanic he said there was coolant in the cylinder heads and that there is exhaust in the radiator. he said i'm better off buying a new engine and everything will come out to $3500 or more however i'm concerned he is trying to take advantage of me seeing as how i don't know much about cars.

Now talking to my friend who is my mechanic and describing all the faulty problems he said that its more than likely a blown head gasket and maybe radiator so it will be around a $700-900 fix. Obviously there is a big dollar difference and i want to know your guys opinion?

Do i need a new engine? or just a new head gasket?

Thank you