damage control

[catdaddy]

funny story. on a road trip yesterday, my 92 xlt (all stock & 160,000 mi.) started running hot and stalled. i heard that you could drive it w/the heater on hi. well several hours later i get home and the heat is no longer cooking my feet and the air is blowing cool. o.k. my question, how much s#%t could i have f+#ked up. had the t-stat & water pump replaced less than a year ago, flushed and new antifreeze. will be poking around in there on monday. any and all help or suggestions are welcome.

 

[little x]

Well, If you ran it extreemely hot, and it sounds like you did, I'd say there is about a 99% chance that you cracked one or both of your heads. That's of course if they weren't already cracked.

If your heater was blowing cold air then you either over boiled water, and so hot H2O wasn't getting to your heater core, and that is why the air was cold. Or you cracked your heads so bad that you lost that much water into the engine.

 

[catdaddy]

so i mite find water/antifreeze in the oil?

 

['97 V8]

yup.

 

[catdaddy]

what should be the first steps for this potential disaster?

 

[JStrider]

see if there is oil in your antifreeze

then see if there is antifreeze in your oil...

 

[catdaddy]

radiator was almost empty. filled it with water, started her up, did'nt see no oil in the radiator nor on the dipstick.

 

[sncwfo99]

ouch! is your engine making any new noises now? if the heads aren't cracked I would check them for being warped. I also would look for metal shavings in the oil, your rod and main bearings probably didn't take the heat too well either if you ran it hot for any period of time while being low on oil too.

 

[DeRocha]

Running the heat on hi only works if your temp gauge remains in the normal temp zone.. If it soars into the hot zone you should stop driving otherwise the heat will be high enough to warp the heads and other none good things.. :roll:

 

[catdaddy]

the temp mostly stayed in the normal only getting like to the L. no new noises. when i checked the oil today, it was down about a quart. total miles for the trip was 1580. when i checked the oil halfway thru the trip, it burned a half quart. i was waiting for after this trip to do oil change.

 

[sncwfo99]

I thought that you ran it hot, since you didn't I would be looking for leaks in the rad/hoses. You might want to take it in and have your rad pressure checked, flushed, and filled with new coolant.

 

[catdaddy]

there was some antifreeze boiling over in the res. and that telltale white smoke and smell. i thought i'd drive as far as i could, then shoot on the side of the road. never thought it would go bout 700 miles.

 

[catdaddy]

found no leaks, no oil/water mix. rad. cap looks kinda old. will replace that and check the system pressure. might have dodged a bullet.

 

[DeRocha]

the temp mostly stayed in the normal only getting like to the L. no new noises.

Although reaching the "L" in normal may be higher than you're used to seeing it is still "NORMAL". As such running the engine will not damage anything.. It is normal for the radiator overflow bottle to expand from the Cold reading to the hot as that is its purpose. If the temp gauge becomes erratic (ex reaching the "O" before dropping down, and the next time reaching "L" before dropping down then I would look at the "T" stat.

 

[catdaddy]

going to the parts store today. plan of action is to buy t-stat, fan clutch ( changed the fan blades a few months ago), temp. sensor and get the pressure tester. will start w/the t-stat & fan clutch. t-stat mite be stuck in closed i think. thing is think it's safe to drive the 1/2 hr. round trip to the auto store?

 

[catdaddy]

new t-stat, antifreeze & fan clutch. burped the system, ran it at operating temp. for about 15 min. some white smoke and water from the tailpipe. by the way the temp. outside is between 45-48 degrees. will do pressure test tommorrow. any input.

 

[NHale623]

Pull your spark plugs and see if there's any evidence of coolant. Do a compression test.

 

[catdaddy]

# 6 plug wet w/antifreeze & electrode burnt off, 1 & 3 freeze plugs on pass. side leaking. slime in oil filler cap, found antifreeze/water on the dipstick. pressure test showed that it leaked down to 10psi after about 15 min. found no oil in the antifreeze. could this reveal a absolute: blown gasket/warped head or cracked head or block. can deal w/the first, #2 not so much. short on funding & only ride rite now.

 

[NHale623]

Might be a head, might be an intake. Do a compression test on the cylinders.

 

[catdaddy]

can the tester be had as a loaner tool? How do you replace the freeze plugs, and is it PITA job?