Ok, this took place in mid-May so it’s a little bit fuzzy. While on a road trip in the Sierras (N. Calif.) my car got extremely hot. Pegged the needle in fact.
It’s a long story. Let’s just say there was a black bear circling the campsite looking for food (or people?) and I didn’t pay attention to the gauges…
Next thing I know it’s all the way over to 260*F.

I immediately turned the engine off, turned the key back so I could run the fan, drop the windows, turn the heater on, etc.
There were no steam, smoke or smell; Just the sound of it boiling. Anyways, I parked the car, opened the hood, kept the fan and heater going and just sat there for an hour thinking my engine was toast. Not very fun when you are 400-ish miles away from home, in the middle of nowhere.

After about an hour in 50*F weather I decided to try and start her back up, which she did to my surprise!?! (me->) :lala: :lala: (<-my girlfriend)
I checked the temp, oil pressure, engine sound, etc and everything seemed to be ok! No drop in oil pressure, NO loss of coolant, no weird things going on…

So, did I get lucky? I thought I would have cracked the block or something for sure! I know the temp sensor sending thingy (yes, that is the proper scientific term) can be off, but I still had to change my pants after that whole event.
What do you guys and gals think? The car still runs like normal. Oil pressure is 30+, no weird sounds or smells; I’m not loosing any coolant…

 

don't make a habit out of it but it sounds fine to me.

that wouldn't be the story if you had aluminum heads however..........

 

I'll second that. If it's been running fine since May, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. However, synthetic engine lube is good insurance for hot running engines, since mineral oil will easily break down at temperature extremes like that. You DID change oil right away, correct?

 

doubt it did any serious damage, but... with the car off, the radiator's not going to cool the engine since the water pump wouldn't be cycling the water through it.