Overheated this morning
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 402
Likes: 0
From: Central IL
Overheated this morning
My '97 threw the serpantine belt this morning on my way to work. The coolant temp gague was buried over 250 in less than a minute. I got the car pulled over as quickly as I could, but in traffic with no power steering that is a little easier said than done. Could this just be a the sensor going haywire due to no alternator voltage or could it really get that hot that fast? The coolant overflow tank did not really seem to be that hot. Now I'm worried that it's going to end up with a blown head gasket or something due to nothing more than a belt!!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,269
Likes: 50
From: Dallas Texas
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'09-'10
Did the same thing with mine awhile ago. Punched it hard in traffic and threw the belt. Didn't go a mile before I got the overheat warning. Remember the coolant is not circulating and gets hot fast. Your right, it's a bear to drive with no power steering. Luckily, I didn't lose the belt and put it back on and drove home with no problems. You won't' hurt anything as long as you don't lose coolant and didn't go far. I did put a new idler pulley and belts on. 
