Q: Truck overheated and engine shut off. Should I have the motor rebuilt?

asked by on October 15, 2016

My truck's CEL came on when I was on the highway. I was searching for the closest auto part store to get the CEL read when I noticed my temperature gauge was at it's max. I tried to make it to the next off ramp. Shortly after, my engine shut off or I lost all engine power. When I try to accelerate, I could hear a click click click noise (almost sounds like an engine knock. I coasted off the highway and let the engine cool down and opened the hood. There was white steam and the smell of burning coolant. The radiator was cracked. I towed the truck to a shop to replace the radiator. Turns out the fan clutch wasn't working properly, which lead to the radiator cracking. Shop repaired the fan clutch and replaced the radiator. The truck starts and works like nothing had even happened. Should I preemptively rebuild the head and get a new head gasket even if there hasn't been any additional signs of a problem or should I just cross that bridge if there are any sign of additional problems later?

My car has 140000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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