overheating problem

Asked by Lindsay Mar 27, 2013 at 07:42 AM about the 2000 Chrysler Sebring JX Convertible FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I was driving my car and it make a squealing kind of noise and all of a sudden started smoking really bad so i pulled over... too many ppl are telling me too many different things that it could be... water pump pulley radiator i just need a better answer because i cant afford to fix things that are not wrong with my car.. need help please asap i have 2 kids that ride in my car and i need it to be fixed

Lindsay answered 11 years ago

could itpossibly be a head gasket? or what somebody please tell me something

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DavidH25 answered 11 years ago

What you describe Lindsay is a broken serpentine belt. Something froze up, most common is the air conditioner , it squealed and smoked until it broke, then your water pump will not be turning, hence overheat. Can you get it to a parts house that will read your OBD codes? That would be great if it's drivable but first things first, pop the hood and see if my guess is right, if the belt is gone or shredded and hanging there, you need to find out which component froze, get that fixed, new belt, you're on the road

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DavidH25 answered 11 years ago

To check if it's head gasket, pull your oil dipstick and see if the oil looks OK. If the oil is a light brown, kinda chocolate color and thin and over full, the it is a head gasket/ Also check your radiator, make sure there is no motor oil in there, a blown out head gasket can put coolant in oil or oil in radiator

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Lindsay answered 11 years ago

it only smoked on the passenger side when i heard the noise then it started smoking i know almost nothing bout cars and it was too dark to try to look at it myself.. my mom took it to get it to the shop and it never made it there yet so im freakin out cuz i need my car to get to and from work and for the kids i need answers asap

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DavidH25 answered 11 years ago

Let me call the cavalry. I will get some other guys here. Now.

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4,615

John answered 11 years ago

nine times out of ten a belt has gone due to a siezure of a mechanical part either aircon compressor etc the water pump is driven off of the serpintine belt that runs the auxilery items so odds are its a cheap fix new belt new aux item

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DavidH25 answered 11 years ago

Thanks both you guys. That's what I thought too but she kept askin' so I thought I was missing something.....called for backup....thanks again

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Lindsay answered 11 years ago

well i didnt kno if maybe it was more then wat u guys said bcuz i havent had heat in my car since ive got it... my blower resistor needs replacing and im sure the heater core is either not workin right or a hose could be clogged and idk if my problems could maybe be linked somehow im juss praying that it doesnt cost an arm n leg to fix cuz i dont have that kinda money

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Emily answered 10 years ago