If an engine lost all its coolant..
Discussion
Had this happen to me in a Mitsubishi Gallant. The pipe into the back of the water pump from the heater failed completely, dropping all the water very quickly.
The temperature gauge did not move at all from it's "normal" mark.
The engine was only saved as some of the water splashed onto the ignition system, making the thing miss. I stopped to have a look, & there was water all over the engine bay, but none in the engine.
The temperature gauge did not move at all from it's "normal" mark.
The engine was only saved as some of the water splashed onto the ignition system, making the thing miss. I stopped to have a look, & there was water all over the engine bay, but none in the engine.
VR6T Gar said:
Do most cars not have a low water sensor in the header tank?
I know my 21 year old Corrado did after blowing a hose. The flashing red light saved me from cooking the engine/turbo that day.
I know my 21 year old Corrado did after blowing a hose. The flashing red light saved me from cooking the engine/turbo that day.
My current E36 (1998) and my previous E30 (1986) both had low coolant warnings on the OBC.
You won't know before its far too late in many engines. The ECT sensor requires coolant to actually read anything. If you had a catastrophic loss your calibration wouldn't be able to derate fast enough without a metal temp sensor. Some engines have them to correlate with ECT but many don't to save money.
I.e. you lose your engine before you know it...unless you're very lucky!
I.e. you lose your engine before you know it...unless you're very lucky!
98elise said:
Happened to me driving an opel manta gte in the 80's. Wated pump failure so lost all the coolant. The first thing I no was that my top speed was dropping rapidly and a lack of power. I assume the heat was seizing the engine. Ran fine after a new pump was fitted.
...you don't 'lose your coolant' if the water pump goes. You will still have natural thermal syphoning and the coolant mass inside the head/block will absorb a limited amount of heat before reaching film boiling. Much better than your top or bottom hose blowing off...
.Dumped all the coolant of out my old eGT once, only twigged when there was no hot air after a good 5 miles. guage showed cold. Hmm, something's off here I thought. I hadn't put a hose back properly the previous night. Got some more water from Asda in the end.
If you don't catch it usually either the pistons get hot enough to start to melt and stick to the bores, or the head gasket goes badly enough to stop it running. If you have an oil cooler you can go a bit further
If you don't catch it usually either the pistons get hot enough to start to melt and stick to the bores, or the head gasket goes badly enough to stop it running. If you have an oil cooler you can go a bit further
Had this twice a Daimler 2.5 with a slow steamer- gauge rose slowly..imperceptibly! saved by a huge jam on the m5 and frantic refilling of the rad.
The second time in a Galant when it started knocking like crazy and lost power - leak in the rad about 1/3rd from bottom must have dumped most of the water an all of the 10 minutes it took me to get onto the M25 and lose power!
The second time in a Galant when it started knocking like crazy and lost power - leak in the rad about 1/3rd from bottom must have dumped most of the water an all of the 10 minutes it took me to get onto the M25 and lose power!
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