Car won't start after it overheated 2001 ford Taurus?

Please help me figure out if i should just buy a new car. I was driving on the highway and out of nowhere my car started to lose power. I heard some clanking in the engine and my car shut off wile i was still rolling. I pulled the car over, wile it was still off and there was a cloud of white smoke coming from the engine. I popped the hood and saw that there was water everywhere and water leaking from under the car. I let the car cool down for a wile and tryed to start it up and it would crank for about a second and then seize up. Now the car won't start and i'm not sure why. Anyone know if this is going to be an expensive fix? Or should i just invest in a new car?

Please help me figure out if i should just buy a new car. I was driving on the highway and out of nowhere my car started to lose power. I heard some clanking in the engine and my car shut off wile i was still rolling. I pulled the car over, wile it was still off and there was a cloud of white smoke coming from the engine. I popped the hood and saw that there was water everywhere and water leaking from under the car. I let the car cool down for a wile and tryed to start it up and it would crank for about a second and then seize up. Now the car won't start and i'm not sure why. Anyone know if this is going to be an expensive fix? Or should i just invest in a new car? You have an issue with the coolant. When this happens the car will quickly overheat, in which case DO NOT attempt to start/drive the car, it will only make it worse. There are a couple things that can cause this:

1) one of the radiator/coolant hoses sprang a leak. That's a cheap, easy fix.
2) The radiator itself broke, a relatively easy fix, not that expensive.
3) The water pump broke and you need a new one. Not always cheap because they're usually buried deep within the engine, so the labor can be expensive.

What concerns me most is you said that the engine quit and wouldn't restart. That tells me that you might have blown the head gasket, or worse, damaged the cylinder head, which can happen when a car overheats.

What did the temperature gauge say? Was it high, was the engine overheated? If not then the repair might not be a major one. But if it the engine overheated and the cylinder head is damaged, that's a whopper of a repair, in which case I'd say you might want to think about getting a new car. Unless the car is otherwise sound and you haven't had any other issuers with it, fixing it could be cheaper.

One thing you could do is re-fill the radiator with water. Immediately look under the engine to see if it leaks on the ground. Then start the car, if it will start that is, let it get hot BUT KEEP AN EYE ON THE THERMOSTAT GAUGE. If it starts to get in the very high temp zone, shut the engine off or you'll cause more damage. But if you can get it hot enough to make steam come out again, then quickly try to see where it's coming from to locate its source. I've found many a hole in many a hose this way, and if that's all it is, consider yourself lucky. $20+a man with a tool box can fix it in a few minutes. If you don't know anyone who's knowledgable about cars, I'd just take it to a trustworthy mechanic. Sounds like you cooked your engine whe3n it got hot. Only major repair or another engine is the only way this car will ever go again… No way will it be a cheap fix If overheated it to the point that you trashed the heads and head gaskets, the car will be better off at the scrap yard. Whatever the original problem was, the engine is cooked now. Clunking, steam, and now seized means it's kaput.

Yes, selling it for scrap and buying a new car is probably the best option. Otherwise, look for a good used motor the drop in.

Overheating is something you can't mess with. It may have started as something simple like a burst radiator hose. But once the engine lost coolant and overheated bad things happened. Head gasket, warped or cracked head, failed bearings etc. Have you checked your oil level, with the overheating and seizing it could be that there was no oil so thats the cause. Damage wise could be anything from the oil will fix, to a whole new engine MOST later day engiens are at least PARTLY made from aluminumn alloy! Even seen an ALUMINUM pan distort from over heating on the stove? This is EXACTLy what happens to ALUMINUM HEADS and BLOCKS! ONCE over heated, teh HEAD can lift from the block as teh HEAD BOLTS over S T R E T C H and cause LEAKS and loss of compression! FER NOT, HOWEVER as most times using NEW HEAD BOLTS and a TORQUE WRENCH can reapir most engiens CHEAPLY and QUICKLY! HEAD BOLTSA are made to save teh HEAD and BLCOK from disaster! I PERSONALLY ahve reapired over FIFTY engines by jsut changing the HEAD BOLTS with new ones! WORST CASE is that head work and NEW HEAD GASKET is needed! Teh FORD TUAURUS engiens are SUPEREB< so do NOT blame Ford for your problem! I WOUDL BET YOU USED A LOT OF valvoline oil AND prestone JUNK COOLANT AS WELL! THIS IS WHAT CAUSE most ENGINES TO HIT THE GRAVE YARDS EARLIEST!>>>>>EXPECT o add NEW HEAD BOLTS>>> and MAYBE new head gaskets! His is realln EASY DIY projectg with hand tools and about FIVE hours of work! I WIL DO THIS for you for $600 in MICHIGAN!

Sounds like you cooked your engine whe3n it got hot. Only major repair or another engine is the only way this car will ever go again…

No way will it be a cheap fix

If overheated it to the point that you trashed the heads and head gaskets, the car will be better off at the scrap yard.

Whatever the original problem was, the engine is cooked now. Clunking, steam, and now seized means it's kaput.

Yes, selling it for scrap and buying a new car is probably the best option. Otherwise, look for a good used motor the drop in.

Overheating is something you can't mess with. It may have started as something simple like a burst radiator hose. But once the engine lost coolant and overheated bad things happened. Head gasket, warped or cracked head, failed bearings etc.

Have you checked your oil level, with the overheating and seizing it could be that there was no oil so thats the cause. Damage wise could be anything from the oil will fix, to a whole new engine

MOST later day engiens are at least PARTLY made from aluminumn alloy! Even seen an ALUMINUM pan distort from over heating on the stove? This is EXACTLy what happens to ALUMINUM HEADS and BLOCKS! ONCE over heated, teh HEAD can lift from the block as teh HEAD BOLTS over S T R E T C H and cause LEAKS and loss of compression! FER NOT, HOWEVER as most times using NEW HEAD BOLTS and a TORQUE WRENCH can reapir most engiens CHEAPLY and QUICKLY! HEAD BOLTSA are made to save teh HEAD and BLCOK from disaster! I PERSONALLY ahve reapired over FIFTY engines by jsut changing the HEAD BOLTS with new ones! WORST CASE is that head work and NEW HEAD GASKET is needed! Teh FORD TUAURUS engiens are SUPEREB< so do NOT blame Ford for your problem! I WOUDL BET YOU USED A LOT OF valvoline oil AND prestone JUNK COOLANT AS WELL! THIS IS WHAT CAUSE most ENGINES TO HIT THE GRAVE YARDS EARLIEST!>>>>>EXPECT o add NEW HEAD BOLTS>>> and MAYBE new head gaskets! His is realln EASY DIY projectg with hand tools and about FIVE hours of work! I WIL DO THIS for you for $600 in MICHIGAN!