Well, I started my car today to show my buddy what it sounded like. I had the garage door open and I backed the car up a little so the garage didn't get filled with exhaust fumes. It was freezing cold outside, so my car didn't run too well since there's no choke. I cranked up the idle to about 1200 so it would run on its own. I figured I may as well let the car heat up since I was starting it anyways. I was only going to let it run for 10 or 15 minutes. My cooling fans are controlled by toggle switches, and since it was so cold I figured I wouldn't need them since it wasn't going to run that long (stupid me ). So I went inside, and about 10 minutes later I start smelling something. I go outside, and my garage is FILLED with smoke. I run to turn off the car immediately, and I soon discovered that the coolant was boiling mad style. I looked at my temp gauge, and it was well past the marking of 240 (autometer mechanical gauge). I'm guessing it was around 300 or so. I push the car back to clean up the antifreeze under the car and notice there is quite a bit of oil mixed in with that. I'm not positive, but I'm guessing the oil shot out of my valve covers since I don't have a PCV valve hooked up, and it normally smokes out of there anyways (I know, I need breathers there). Right before I shut it off, the motor sounded like it was running fine (no knocking, etc.). I'm worried that something got screwed up though. My main concern is if the aluminum heads got warped or something like that. What I'm trying to find out is what the heck do I do to check for major problems? I'm going to check the dipstick for antifreeze and top off my fluids first of all, then maybe start it and see how it runs. But what else should I check? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Firstly you'll need to flush the complete coolant system to stop rust particles from collecting in your radiator core etc. This must be done asap.

After that, I dunno....

 

This is just off the top of my head, but usually when a motor gets that hot that fast, the thermostat is usually stuck shut. Yeah, make sure you don't have oil in your antifreeze because that would indicate a warped or cracked head, or blown head gasket. The reason I mentioned the thermostat is I learned the hard way when I cracked a nice, expensive 2.02/1.60 head thanks to a damn five dollar thermostat!

 

You also may have gotten away with it

The oil you saw mixed in could just be wash down from the steam cleaning your engine where the breathers deposited it.

I hope I'm right, 'cause otherwise it's just like the others said...oil in the antifreeze or foaming in the oil is a dead giveaway.

Good luck.

 

a pcv valve would be a really good idea too unless you like changing oil every 500 miles or so...... if you not running pcv because you wanna keep the intake tract clean put in a catch can and a filter so it doesnt suck any oil through it.. sure your keepin the intake tract clean by not running pcv but imagine how nasty and gunked up the internals in your crank case are gonna get.. doesnt seem like a fair trade off..

 

Well, I just checked the dipstick. There are absolutely NO signs of antifreeze in there, but it is a little under a quart down. I'm going to flush out the cooling system and change the oil since it needs it anyways. Any other suggestions?? Thanks.

 

thats a good sign.. i would do a compression test and a cooling system pressure test for piece of mind.. sounds like you may have gotten lucky.. also do your engine a favor.. add a pvc valve.. it'll last longer and you internals wont get all sludged up.. like I said before if your worried about oil in the pcv system install a catch can and or a filter in the line or both, one of those clear plastic fuel filters work good for that purpose, and you can see when they get dirty and replace em.. they're cheap, a few bucks and your intake will stay clean and so will the internals of your engine.. there's no reason not to unless for some reason you have very low vaccum and its a dedicated drag car that doesnt get driven on the street and the oil is changed every couple hundred miles anyway.. even then if it were mine i'd run a vaccum pump and pcv.. just my .02 its your car..

 

You'll know the next time you start the car and drive it for any time at all. I would definately change out the t-stat with a good one that can't freeze closed, it can only freeze open if it malfunctions. I had to learn that he hard way as well. The aluminum head on my engine was slightly bowed, but not enough to hurt the running of the car. Had no leaks or anything but, when I tore the motor down last spring for other issues I ended up having .007 thousands taken off the heads to flatten them back out. As for the breathers versus pcv, well I just run two good K&N style breathers on my car with no pcv and I've had no problems with it. PCV's work best when the engine running lower rpm's as the vacumn is greater at lower rpm's but as the rpm's climb vacumn falls off and the pcv doesn't do as good of a job.
If you hurt the engine you'll find antifreeze in your oil and the car will run bad. Been there done it..

 

 

Just don't buy a "Murray" thermostat with that provision... I put one in my brothers bird because O'Reillys stopped selling Stant ; it stuck open the first time after we put it in!!

Buy a Stant Heavy Duty...

 

If you're worried about your thermostat sticking open, here's some advice for whenever you change it...

Drill 4 holes in the flange (so they are inside the gasket inside diameter) about 1/8" diameter....you won't get enough flow to prevent the car from warming up, but you'll never have to worry about a no-flow condition either.

:lala: