Pegged the temp gauge, damage ?
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Pegged the temp gauge, damage ?
I look down and the temp gauge is pegged. POS fan controller went on me again and I didn't notice. Motor was still running OK but lower oil pressure.
I don't know how long it was pegged 10 minutes or more. I noticed the oil gauge was down a bit and then I looked at the temp and it was pegged at 260 degs.
Like I said it was still running fine but now I worried it is ruined. Anyone have any opinions on what I'm looking at. I'll change the oil but who knows if I did some permanent damage.
I don't know how long it was pegged 10 minutes or more. I noticed the oil gauge was down a bit and then I looked at the temp and it was pegged at 260 degs.
Like I said it was still running fine but now I worried it is ruined. Anyone have any opinions on what I'm looking at. I'll change the oil but who knows if I did some permanent damage.
Le Mans Master
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From: Fernandina Beach FL
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Man- that sucks....I've always wanted to put an idiot light in the water temp gauge that would get your attention.
Hopefully you didn't do any damage- you still had oil pressure and if you didn't see steam in the exhaust- you might be OK.
Along w/ changing the oil- you might want to pull the plugs- and see if any are really clean....not good.
Richard
Hopefully you didn't do any damage- you still had oil pressure and if you didn't see steam in the exhaust- you might be OK.
Along w/ changing the oil- you might want to pull the plugs- and see if any are really clean....not good.
Richard
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Motorhead,
Really sorry to hear that.
It happened to me about two years ago in the summer. Water pump belt flew off. The good news is that the engine was ok! Still beating the crap out of it today. 
I feel the reason that my engine suffered no damage was because I was running synthetic oil. The carbon strands in synthetic oil are engineered to be smaller in length so they don't break, unlike dino oil that has very long and brittle carbon strands that fail in high heat situations. Less carbon strand breakage means an oil that keeps its lubrication properties much longer and at much higher temps. My motor is iron with Dart Pro1 aluminum heads. Were you running synthetic?
Really sorry to hear that.
It happened to me about two years ago in the summer. Water pump belt flew off. The good news is that the engine was ok! Still beating the crap out of it today. I feel the reason that my engine suffered no damage was because I was running synthetic oil. The carbon strands in synthetic oil are engineered to be smaller in length so they don't break, unlike dino oil that has very long and brittle carbon strands that fail in high heat situations. Less carbon strand breakage means an oil that keeps its lubrication properties much longer and at much higher temps. My motor is iron with Dart Pro1 aluminum heads. Were you running synthetic?
The ORIGINAL and bestest
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From: Toronto Ontario
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Oh man, that sucks, I hope it is okay! I think I would do a leak down test to see if everything is still good. This is exactly why I installed a red LED to show when the fan is running, as well as a maual overide switch for the fan. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you buddy! 
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
The temp gauge goes to 240 and I am constantly watching so I don't think it was that hot for that long. It lost most or all the coolant but I have just had an IR gun on it and there is no external part over 200 degrees about 10-15 minutes later, even the headers weren't over 200F
I may have dodged a bullet here but I will find out tomorrow. I may not have put the rad cap on properly and no water or very little circulating over the temp sensor beside the thermostat housing may have caused the sensor to heat up. There was a small amount of steam coming from the rad cap when I parked it and it started to cool down immediately. But there is no coolant I can see down in the rad.
I may have dodged a bullet here but I will find out tomorrow. I may not have put the rad cap on properly and no water or very little circulating over the temp sensor beside the thermostat housing may have caused the sensor to heat up. There was a small amount of steam coming from the rad cap when I parked it and it started to cool down immediately. But there is no coolant I can see down in the rad.
Thread Starter
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Oh man, that sucks, I hope it is okay! I think I would do a leak down test to see if everything is still good. This is exactly why I installed a red LED to show when the fan is running, as well as a maual overide switch for the fan. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you buddy!
I am getting a f'ing buzzer, red light and disco ball that will drop from the roof if this motor isn't ruined, it was running OK when I parked it
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Motorhead,
Really sorry to hear that. It happened to me about two years ago in the summer. Water pump belt flew off. The good news is that the engine was ok! Still beating the crap out of it today. I feel the reason that my engine suffered no damage was because I was running synthetic oil. The carbon strands in synthetic oil are engineered to be smaller in length so they don't break, unlike dino oil that has very long and brittle carbon strands that fail in high heat situations. Less carbon strand breakage means an oil that keeps its lubrication properties much longer and at much higher temps. My motor is iron with Dart Pro1 aluminum heads. Were you running synthetic?
Really sorry to hear that.
It happened to me about two years ago in the summer. Water pump belt flew off. The good news is that the engine was ok! Still beating the crap out of it today. I feel the reason that my engine suffered no damage was because I was running synthetic oil. The carbon strands in synthetic oil are engineered to be smaller in length so they don't break, unlike dino oil that has very long and brittle carbon strands that fail in high heat situations. Less carbon strand breakage means an oil that keeps its lubrication properties much longer and at much higher temps. My motor is iron with Dart Pro1 aluminum heads. Were you running synthetic?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Crossville TN
You likely didn't hurt anything if the heads didn't get damaged from having NO coolant flowing through them. Your most likely failure point is a blown head gasket. Change oil and refresh the coolant, fire it up and try it out. You'll know pretty quick if there is some significant damage. Having synthetic oil in there probably saved the lower end.
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I've been through this several times. Cast iron heads make it through OK.
Aluminum heads warp. You might not blow the head gasket right away. The head tends to concave with the lowest part right in the middle between the 2 middle cylinders. I know this because i've overheated it twice and had the heads shaved. Both times i watched as the machine made many passes to get the head flat again.
Aluminum distorts when it gets hot. No way around it.
Last time i threw a water pump belt i shut it down pretty quick but heat soak kicked in.
I retorqued the bolts in just the center of the heads to 85# (up from 55) in an attempt to "flatten the head out" So far so good. It's been about a year.
One thing in your favor is that aftermarket heads have a .75 inch deck rather than the thinner .4 deck of these lightweight L98 heads.
Worst case senario. You'll have to pull the heads and have them shaved flat then reinstall.
I wouldn't worry about the bottom end at all.
Aluminum heads warp. You might not blow the head gasket right away. The head tends to concave with the lowest part right in the middle between the 2 middle cylinders. I know this because i've overheated it twice and had the heads shaved. Both times i watched as the machine made many passes to get the head flat again.
Aluminum distorts when it gets hot. No way around it.
Last time i threw a water pump belt i shut it down pretty quick but heat soak kicked in.
I retorqued the bolts in just the center of the heads to 85# (up from 55) in an attempt to "flatten the head out" So far so good. It's been about a year.
One thing in your favor is that aftermarket heads have a .75 inch deck rather than the thinner .4 deck of these lightweight L98 heads.
Worst case senario. You'll have to pull the heads and have them shaved flat then reinstall.
I wouldn't worry about the bottom end at all.
Last edited by tortisevette; Jul 7, 2011 at 11:42 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2004
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From: Livonia MI
You're probably ok, long as you didn't flush cold water into the block while still hot. 260 degrees internal cooling system fluids really not much a concern for most metals, but who knows where you were at externally. If you did warp some mating surfaces, or cook out head valve oil seals, kinda just have to fix em'.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2008
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From: Oxford MA-----You just lost the game!!!!
I guess you haven't done any obvious, severe damage, but by overheating it, you have damaged it, and sooner or later, when you have forgotten allllllllll about it, enjoying your false sense of security, it'll getcha.........you hear me?.........IT'LL GETCHA!!!!
Hey, man, I'm just pulling your leg!! Your engine's fine........probably. D'oh, there I go again, with the leg-pulling!
Scott
Hey, man, I'm just pulling your leg!! Your engine's fine........probably. D'oh, there I go again, with the leg-pulling!
Scott
