Yesterday while my husband, me and our one year old (I know this is irrelevant but I'm really shaken up by the whole experience) were driving on a one lane highway, my husband said that the car became hard to steer and then we started to smell something burning. Our odometers haven't worked right since about October of last year (the mechanic said it was the alternator and we had it replaced and it was neither the alternator or the battery) so the car was still not showing it was hot but he pulled over and when he did the car jumped up to the top of the "H". We lifted the hood and looked in to see that the car had a lot of smoke (I think it was because the engine was so hot not the head gasket but could have been) but the water level was full. There is a crack in our radiator and it looks like a new one is there (we went to change the radiator but our uncle said it was the wrong one and there's no other one for our car so he flubbed and we just kind of forgot about it). We put as much more water in it as we could and there was a lot of pressure and when we let it out a lot of steam came out of the radiator (it was a very cold and rainy day). The car cooled down but we did not start it until we were safe at home, which would have been impossible if not for a nice woman who pulled over to help us, and it sounded like it wanted to start but would not. Our uncle who is a mechanic, but botched up the whole radiator thing, is supposed to come look at it but I would like to get an idea of what we are in for. I don't want this to ever happen again and I feel like I don't know cars at all, neither me nor my husband know a lot and I've read some things and just feel like a total idiot because it's all so hard to understand it may as well have been in Spanish (please keep this in mind when replying). I just feel like a complete idiot and totally leery of cars now, this is the second time a car just stopped on me in my whole life. I need help please and thank you all.

It sounds like the aluminum head warped, when the engine overheated, and blew the head gasket. The head will likely have to be machined, valves inspected for damage, and head gasket replaced. Afterwards, read your Owner's Manual on how to drain and refill the cooling system. Follow the procedure exactly, otherwise it can result in the engine overheating and the head warping. Make sure the radiator and thermostat are good, set the heater controls per the Owner's Manual, and refill with a 50/50 mixture of the recommended antifreeze and distilled water. Be sure to read how to purge all air from the system. These sort of repairs are expensive--they can easily run around $3,000 and cost more than the car is worth.

Once you get on top of the situation, start a Maintenance Log (Date, Mileage, Work Performed) and perform all recommended preventive maintenance in your Owner's Manual. I keep a Maintenance Log for each vehicle on Microsoft Word. This is the only way to minimize unwelcomed surprises and keep automotive costs down.