how i didnt blow my head gasket... wouldnt believe it if it wasnt me

[shenronzero]

well i have a great story for all you MK III drivers. on 6/13/08 (Friday the 13Th):evil3: i was out running for work on 528 in Orlando when i realized my power steering was gone. a min later i look down and my temp gauge is almost all the way up so i pop it in neutral turned it off and pull over:1zhelp:. so i pop the hood and my crank pulley is hanging and my power steering belt is gone and my other two were torn up:nono:. i removed all of the stuff out of the way and let it cooled down. after a bit i started it up and when to the next exit down which was only a mile down the road to just get off the highway. when i realized it would drive without the fan i turned around and started driving home. i took a few precautions however. i turned the heat on high and as hot as i could get it to blow and left the hood in the latch position so that there was a crack to let air under the hood. i had to drive almost 20 miles and i only had to stop a few time to let it cool off. all in all the engine held up like a champ and no BHG and the temp gauge got up almost to the red too. to fix it i had to take a crank pulley, crank bolt, and key-way off my parts car and fixed it. I have to say after all the crap problems i have had in the past with my other 7M motors and what i hear from other drivers the motor was actually amazing. although i had rebuilt the top end and had a new HG and new head bolts that probably helped. just wanted to share my story with you, tell me what you all think.

thanks

 

[Facime]

just getting the motor hot isnt nessecarily a precurser to blowing a head gasket. I would worry more about warping and/or annealing the head.

A friend of mine (Steven89) dropped the crank pully off one night while driving around. If I didnt see it I wouldnt have believed it. It was just sitting there hanging by the sway bar.

 

[Kckazdude]

Considering the water pump wasnt operational, the temps were higher than what you noted. Turning the heater on full was of no use as well. I am curious how much damage is done to the motor now.

 

[shenronzero]

Considering the water pump wasnt operational, the temps were higher than what you noted. Turning the heater on full was of no use as well. I am curious how much damage is done to the motor now.

nothing appears to be damaged. after i fixed it i took it out for an eazy ride to make sure everything was good then i got on it a little bit and everything seems to be running good. as for the temp it got almost to red then i would shut it down. and the heat being on was a small way of releasing some of the heat from the cooling system, it doesnt help much but a little. i thought the water pump wasnt belt operated? just the p/s, alt, ac, and fan. but like i said its running great

 

[Facime]

i thought the water pump wasnt belt operated?

:slap:

well lets see. the water wasnt moving through the motor, the temp sensor is on the t-stat housing, and without circulation....you do the math on what the water temps were inside the block.


I think you were extremely foolish...and extraordinarily lucky. Time will tell what kind of lifespan you removed from your motor.

 

[Rennat]

but you have a thermostat for that reason... so it opens, might not rush in there. but hot and cold liquids together tend to merge and settle out.

 

[Kemosabe]

Seems too many have lost that crank pulley due to poor installation practices including improper torqueing procedures. Many don't have the torque wrench for the 195 ft lbs so they just rely on what they think is their "Expert Feel" during assembly

 

[Rennat]

its called lock the flywheel during the rebuild with a 1/4'' plate of steel and torque that bitch.

or put the car in 5th gear with the e-brake on... its been like that on my black supra for a long time now...

 

[shenronzero]

:slap:

well lets see. the water wasnt moving through the motor, the temp sensor is on the t-stat housing, and without circulation....you do the math on what the water temps were inside the block.


I think you were extremely foolish...and extraordinarily lucky. Time will tell what kind of lifespan you removed from your motor.

but you have a thermostat for that reason... so it opens, might not rush in there. but hot and cold liquids together tend to merge and settle out.

yeah i though thats what the thermostat was for... when it gets to temp it opens up and lets water run through. and as far as motor lifespan doesnt really matter since i was doing a low mileage motor swap within the next few months... still i wasnt trying to blow my motor, just needed to get it somewhere were i could work on it

 

[Facime]

yeah i though thats what the thermostat was for...

you also thought the water pump wasnt belt driven sooooo...yeah. What DID you think it was driven by? steam? Again, if the water pump isnt turning, the water isnt flowing, therefore the thermostat has nothing to open up for.

Put a divider in a fish tank, fill one side with boiling water and the other side with tap water. now open a 2" hole between the two sides....see my point? Sure you are going to get some thermal transfer, but :aigo:

all Im saying is you were lucky, and its hardly a good idea. Also, again my point was originally, just running it like that with no coolant flowing isnt a "cause" of blown headgaskets. The vast majority of head gaskets Ive seen have been intrusions FROM the combustion chamber TOO the water jacket not the other way around. Warping the head after cool down would be a more likely cause/contributing factor.

 

[MK3.0dudeman]

I wouldnt have drivin the car.just to play it safe.I hope everything gose well with the car

 

[IJ.]

Silly putty cylinder head.....

 

[A-to-the-J]

my buddy got BHG doing a whopping 5, that's right, FIVE MPH! :biglaugh:

 

[gaboonviper85]

i bet you can cut your head in half with a spoon now.....that aluminum head is fubar...it would have to be if it ran that many miles with now water pump!

 

[Jaguar_5]

Hmmm, sounds more like 'I blew my headgasket (and annealed my head) and haven't realized it yet'

 

[Kckazdude]

nothing appears to be damaged. after i fixed it i took it out for an eazy ride to make sure everything was good then i got on it a little bit and everything seems to be running good. as for the temp it got almost to red then i would shut it down. and the heat being on was a small way of releasing some of the heat from the cooling system, it doesnt help much but a little. i thought the water pump wasnt belt operated? just the p/s, alt, ac, and fan. but like i said its running great

As far as the heat being on, you might as well have been blowing on the motor yourself to cool it down. It had the same affect. The part where your fan wasnt moving, yea see the fan is connected to the water pump. Thats what that little peice of aluminum is called.

What we are saying is although you saw temps of 280° on the gauge, the temp between cylinders was most likely 350° or better. Probably closer to 500° around cylinders 4 5 and 6.

Hmmm, sounds more like 'I blew my headgasket (and annealed my head) and haven't realized it yet'

I give him till the end of the month before he is crying about a BHG.

 

[shenronzero]

I give him till the end of the month before he is crying about a BHG.

yeah definatly not...like im really gonna wine and complain if i got a BHG and i doubt it happens. hey if thats what you do im not gonna hold it against you but that just isnt me. if your nice im nice, if not im not

 

[IJ.]

Done before this turns to shit guys!