I have a 2001 Toyota Estima van which i recently put a new radiator in. I was waiting to buy coolant and a few days later i forgot this and started it to keep the battery good. It ran for about 15 minutes completely dry before shutting off. Went I realised my mistake I ran out and found it was off but smoking from the engine bay. The smell if burning was present and my suspicions were he head gasket. I followed a few videos and after it had cooled I filled the radiator with water and started the engine. It ran and i observed some bubbling from the radiator and a rough idle. I am going to try a sealer but i wanted to ask. Is it too late? what else could be wrong or worth checking immediately? key points being, it ran for 15 minutes idling COMPLETELY dry no water or coolant. it shut off by itself but didnt cease completely as it started about an hour later(with water this time).
cheers scotty and team
I am going to try a sealer
Those are temporary bandaids at best and at worst may clog up your cooling system. It's a crap shoot. However if the choice is between that and the junkyard you have nothing to lose but the cost of the product. Scotty recommends the Bars Leaks head gasket product in the silver bottle.
what else could be wrong or worth checking immediately?
The cylinder head or even the block may have warped or cracked due to severe overheating. You might want to test for combustion gases in the coolant using the kind of test kit that Scotty has demonstrated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0U8Iyf0kk4
