Is My Car Screwed? - Overheating
 

Well, I was putting some red wire loom covers on my car the other day, and my Mom called me in for supper, so I quickly finished up and went in to get my eat on. (Non sexual that is. :p ) So, anyways, the next day, it must have been about 28*C, and I'm sitting in really slow traffic. I notice my temp gauge is just below the H. I think, "Oh shit..." but as traffic picks up and I get some air past the radiator, it cools back down again. I resolve to pull over at my destination (about a minute away) and see what's up. So, in the turn lane waiting for the light to change, the needle starts creeping up again. I shut the car off, but when I restart it to go, I find that it's actually ABOVE the H. With that, I pull into the parking lot, and shut her down. I pop the hood, and by now I'm hearing definite bubbling thinking that my car is screwed for sure. So, I open the hood (very carefully I might add) and see my coolant reservior boiling over. After letting it cool to the point that it wasn't spilling over anymore, I looked at my two fans, and discovered that when I had unplugged them to add the wire looms, in my haste to eat I forgot to plug them back in! :rolleyes: After thuroughly kicking myself in the ass, I plugged them back in, and started the car to see the temperature return to normal.

My coolant level is now between full and low from the boil over, so it's not in dire need of replenishing, but I'd like to know if I would have incurred any substantial engine damage. I wasn't driving hard, and the engine was only above H for about 10 minutes total. It should still be fine right?

Max...since you saw it that soon....you are probably just fine....don't get your panties in a wad just yet.......drive the car around some......and the things to check are....the tail pipe....is there steam coming out? if so.....could be a head gasket.....is the oil level staying normal? if not....you could be leaking coolant into the engine.....if you don't see either of these signs....and your coolant level stays constant.....chalk up the whole thing to experience and count your blessings. you are fine.

to add a little prespective...my daughter drove around town in her eclipse for nearly two days with NO WATER in it before it killed the engine......short runs true...but it don't take long to build up the heat. and then all she did was warp the head just enough to have it leak but it was repairable....

so you see......seeing as how soon you saw your problem.....I truely believe you hace nothing to worry about.

another thing you should do after having an overheating incedent is to take a look at the oil. Check the dip stick and see if the oil looks "normal" if there has been any damage to the head gasket and coolant is in the oil it will not look right (usually gets kind of whitish). If the oil looks OK and the other things check out you have been lucky and can likely move on with your life ;)

I just went through a similar experience (snapped fan belt) on one of my other vehicles... nasty nasty boil over... after waiting for cooldown, replacing the belt, refiling the coolant, and checking the oil I was able to get under way with no damage (non apparent at least).

One of the additional precautions I took was to change the oil in it as soon as I got the vehicle to it's home. Since it had gotten really really hot I felt it best to put some new oil into it.... the oil that was in there had gotten sufficient thermal abuse for my taste.

As a last check I did a compression check on each of the cylinders on the engine and checked the plugs for fouling... not that this was really necessary, but it was over due anyways (this is an old engine... 1975 350 V-8) so it seemed like a good thing to do.

Thanks for the info guys. I'll head out this evening and check my oil for that cloudiness. It's coming up on another change, so I'll wait until then to do it. Thanks for the tips though, and I hope all is well. :(

shit man ive done that 8 times.. no problem LOL, cept mine isn't an easy plug in the wire type problem, mine is just fuct up with no solution