I would like to start by saying, I'm sorry for the length of this tread. I have been working on my wife's '08 ES350 all week. It started with the car just dying at a stoplight. I cleaned the battery terminals, and it fired right up. Three days later, it died coming off the interstate, and she noticed the temp gauge bottom out. I got it home and set out to work on it. I have known for a lot longer than I like to admit, that it needed a new water pump. I replaced it, no problem (mostly). Then I discovered the foot long hole in the top of the radiator. OK, replaced that with no problem (again mostly). I tried to start it, and it sounded like the starter wouldn't engage. I hooked up the jumper cables, and tried again. I got the same thing. I hooked up my code reader, and found a code for the Temperature Sensor had detected a spike in the temperature. Yeah that happens when your water pump goes out, and your radiator blows out. I reset that code, and tried to start it again. This time, the starter does engage, but the engine just turns, and turns. It acts like there isn't any spark going on to try to fire off a single cylinder. I'm not sure on the electronics, when it comes to modern cars. I'm just an old shade tree mechanic that learned how to work on cars, because I can't afford to tow it to a dealer and have them putz with it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

This might sound harsh but don't purchase a car you or you wife cannot afford to maintain. Get it to the dealer or sell it!

 

Does the fuel pump work? Check the fuses.

 

Do a compression test. Did the engine overheat and then stop

 

My thoughts exactly... If the pump and rad both blew, wonder how long it was driven after it lost coolant and overheated...