Vette troubles Overheading Do’s and Don’ts Part II

[timsweet]

<Snip> Tim,
Yep it's me again we've had this discussion in the past about you posting links to your website... and once again I remind you to review our posting policy and terms of service..

I'd like to wind this up but, there are some loose ends.

The actual cause was a very unusual split in the bottom radiator hose. It wasn't the usual, break at the clamp, or on a bend. It was a length wise split at the very bottom of the hose. It was large enough to dump most of the contents of the cooling system in a matter of a couple 100 feet, mostly likely most of it at the traffic light where I saw the odd maneuvering of the cars behind me.

So, thankfully, it's not a freeze plug or anything major. But I'm not out of the woods yet.

Why not? There is often collateral damage when a car over heats and with at or near 300 degrees, other things start to fail. Some gasket materials will melt, other fluids can get broken down to make them less effective.

The major concerns with my Vette will be the gaskets for the heads and the transmission fluid. The transmission fluid is cooled by running through the bottom of the radiator and if it's hot there, the fluid follows. Breaking down of that trans fluid can lead to transmission damage and necessitate a rebuild.

The weakening of any gasket material can cause leaking of whatever it is supposed to be sealing. Head gasket leaks, will cause a loss of compression and a chance to damage the engine. In newer cars, with aluminum blocks or heads these can warp and become useless.

My Vette has iron heads and block and in this case that's a good thing. It's less likely that the heat had any ill effect, but there is still a chance.

Here's a couple more Do's after all the drama.
1. Do have your oil changed
2. Do have your compression checked.
3. Do check all the other seals/gaskets.
4. Do have your transmission fluid changed.
5. Do have your thermostat changed.
Currently I'm waiting for the compression test to done. I"ll have the results Monday (7/5) and I'll pass them on.
Thanks for reading.
Tim

 

[Rogue]

You may want to add or revise the following:

On a car that is 10+ years old or depending on condition, replace all coolant hoses.

300 degrees....oh yeah that's bad. If it doesn't start cooling down in traffic when the cooling fan comes on at 230 degrees, it's time to stop and check. I'm always aware of that being in SoCal where our summers can get hot and traffic can get pretty bad. So far so good on mine. But I regularly check my coolant level. Always.

 

[Code]

Thanks for sharing that info.

 

[Mac]

Thanks for sharing that info.

Hi, Code. I'm curious... how is it that both you and the thread originator, timsweet, have exactly the same IP address? And, according to your profiles, you both work in IT. Such strange coincidences...

-Mac

 

[Code]

Hi, Code. I'm curious... how is it that both you and the thread originator, timsweet, have exactly the same IP address? And, according to your profiles, you both work in IT. Such strange coincidences...

-Mac

Actually, I was just thanking Rouge for comments.

And wanted to see if my Dynamic IP settings were working.
Guess I've got more work to do.


And before I get band for life form the..um corvette action center...I'll wanted to give everyone closure. That way..everyone not going..what what every happened to that A$$es corvette.

The news is all good.
WOT (decided to give her a name) is back in the driveway. Compression and heads all checked out. 3 cheers for American Iron!!!!
(OK..WOT is funny because it's a crossfire with least HP in the C4 Generation.)
Took it for a spin after picking it up and everything seems to be fine.
New hoses, new thermostat, new coolant..yeah...all of the old stuff is back in down, new transmission fluid (maybe over kill but there is the a school of thought that a major overheating event can cause a failure...safe..not sorry) and oil change (I'm not sure what happens to engine oil at 300 degrees - but safe...not sorry).

 

[Mac]

Actually, I was just thanking Rouge for comments.

And wanted to see if my Dynamic IP settings were working.
Guess I've got more work to do.


And before I get band for life form the..um corvette action center...I'll wanted to give everyone closure. That way..everyone not going..what what every happened to that A$$es corvette.

The news is all good.
WOT (decided to give her a name) is back in the driveway. Compression and heads all checked out. 3 cheers for American Iron!!!!
(OK..WOT is funny because it's a crossfire with least HP in the C4 Generation.)
Took it for a spin after picking it up and everything seems to be fine.
New hoses, new thermostat, new coolant..yeah...all of the old stuff is back in down, new transmission fluid (maybe over kill but there is the a school of thought that a major overheating event can cause a failure...safe..not sorry) and oil change (I'm not sure what happens to engine oil at 300 degrees - but safe...not sorry).

Glad to hear your Vette is running again.

Perhaps you wouldn't keep inspiring the wrath of the other mods if you didn't insist on ignoring the simple rules of these forums? It's pretty much common sense stuff.

For instance, if you walked into BurgerKing and started asking people to follow you to the McDonald's across the street, how long do you figure it would be before the manager kicks your ass out the doors?

The multiple-personality thing is cute but rather pathetic. If your goal is to drive web-traffic to your blog, what do you think will happen the first time you link to that blog, hm? If you continue generating multiple user names, how long do you figure it'll be before we ask your ISP to take action?

A bit of web-etiquette would go a long, long way. Give it some thought.

-Mac