Nissan Repair: 1998 nissan altima, nissan altima, compression check

Question
QUESTION: Ok my dausghters car was making a squeaking noise then was hard to steer,she said the battery light and brake idiot lights were blinking,she stoped and had the steering and brake fluids checked,all was well but continued to have no power steering she kept driving and it got hot. The top of the radiator was completerly blown apart,the idle pully was seized up we are in the process of changing the thermostat but the housing of the thermostat has a hole. The fans only comes on when the air conditioning comes on,and there is no heat coming out of the heater and it still overheats. What do you think?

ANSWER: Mary,

The car has thrown a belt and that will need to be replaced.  Also, check to make sure no assessory drive is locked up as that would have cause the belt to come off.  Do not drive the car unless you get the belts replaced or it will overheat and the motor will be damaged and have to be replaced.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you. do you mean a timing belt? do you think the head could be cracked?--we were going to do a vaccuumm compression check that should tell us something shouldn't it?

Answer
Mary,

If there was no thermostat I would install one and replace the radiator.  If it is only the idler pulley that was seized then you are just going to need to replace it.  If you do a static timing check and a compression check along with looking at the sparkplugs you can see if the headgasket has blown.  I do not think the car has jumped timing but the only way to know is to do a check of the static timing.  Run the car over to number 1 and feel when air comes out the number one hole.  Now, stop the engine and look at the timing marks and it should be close.  If you really want to be specific, remove the valve cover and check when number one valve starts to move and it should be on number one at the timing marks.