Oh my goodness! I thought I blew up my van!!

[C.Ann]

Went to go to the store and when I turned on the car there was this really loud "pop" and then smoke started coming out from under the hood!!

Took me forever to get the hood open (darn plastic pull-handles that you're afraid will snap right off) but eventually I got it open and saw nothing wrong whatsoever.. No burn marks, no more smoke - restarted the van and all seemed well.. Checked all my guages - A-okay..

Just to be safe I called my son-in-law and he thinks that I may have accidentally put my foot on the gas pedal at the exact same time I fired up the engine and caused the car to backfire under the hood.. I did feel the pop under my foot, but I thought I had it on the brake.. Oops!

Put SIL on standby for "roadside service" and went off to the store - even stopped at a garaga sale.. No problems at all so I guess I did a boo-boo..

Thank goodness it wasn't anything else - I don't have money I want to be spending on a bunch of car repairs right now..

Of course now I'll be nervous for a few days until I'm sure that nothing is going to act up again..

 

[monkeyboy]

Wow..I did that once in an old 72 Dodge....blew the engine 3 days later


Check the oil pressure for the next few days to be safe

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by monkeyboy
Wow..I did that once in an old 72 Dodge....blew the engine 3 days later


Check the oil pressure for the next few days to be safe

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PLEASE don't tell me that!!!! It's exactly where it should be right now.. Any other signs to look for?

 

[Crissup]

Reminds me of the old gags we used to buy when we were little. It resembled a large firecracker with two wires coming out of it. You would attach one wire to a good ground and the other to a spark plug wire. When Mom would go out to start the car, it would begin pouring our smoke and screaching real loud. LOL!!

We did it to her so often (once or twice a year), that it got to where as soon as she heard it, she knew exactly what it was and which one of the four kids probably had a hand in it this time. LOL!!

 

[Microcell]

I have blown an engine or two in my time and you need to check the level of the oil to be sure you are not losing any. You need to be sure you have oil in your car to prevent throwing a rod (in the piston) if that starts happening you will hear loud sounds and the car will not run. Precursers to that are the engine "missing" or a rattle every few seconds That means a piston is misfiring, or not in unison with the others. That is not good and can indicate that a head gasket blew- not cheap to fix. Your water temp will usually go crazy if that happens because your engine will overheat. I hope none of these things happen. Probably just backfired.

 

[Crissup]

Originally posted by Microcell
Precursers to that are the engine "missing"

Nope, looked under the hood... it's still there.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by Crissup
Nope, looked under the hood... it's still there.

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Yup! And my headlight fluid is full too !!

 

[KimRaye]