Engine how fast would an engine overheat with zero coolant

dqureshi06 · Jun 29, 2024

recently I have had overheating problems on my foxbody. the temperature gauge creeps up higher after reaching operating temperature until I turn the car off. it does not get to operating temperature any quicker than it used to, but I was wondering if coolant was not circulating in the engine block at all, would the temperature rise very quickly? I have driven it just to test it after replacing some components like the radiator cap and soon will be replacing the radiator itself, but I dont want to risk hurting the engine by even running it for a little if it has no coolant. is there a way to tell if coolant is actually getting to the block at all or not?

Noobz347 · Jun 29, 2024

I might start with the thermostat.

Easy enough to remove it and drop it into a pan of boiling water to see if it opens.

Replace it with a fresh gasket and thin bead of black RTV regardless of the the outcome.

General karthief · Jun 29, 2024

Heater blow hot? I mean really hot?
i think if there's no water flowing the heater core will not get hot.
looks good on paper

dqureshi06 · Jun 29, 2024

Noobz347 said:
I might start with the thermostat.

Easy enough to remove it and drop it into a pan of boiling water to see if it opens.

Replace it with a fresh gasket and thin bead of black RTV regardless of the the outcome.

yeah I might replace that as well

dqureshi06 · Jun 29, 2024

General karthief said:
Heater blow hot? I mean really hot?
i think if there's no water flowing the heater core will not get hot.
looks good on paper

ac does not work on my car lol

FastDriver · Jun 29, 2024

Temps would rise extremely quickly, but might not show up on the gauge as quickly as it overheats the rest of the motor. Without coolant, the ECT gauge wouldn't be submerged in water flowing from the hotspots. Timewise, you wouldn't make it much past the end of your street.

Anyways, if coolant wasn't circulating, the upper radiator hose wouldn't get hot and pressurized. Just squeeze that when it gets up to temp. You should also be able to visually confirm flow by looking in the radiator. Obviously, let it come up to temp with the rad cap off... don't open after pressurized or you could badly burn yourself.

General karthief · Jun 30, 2024

dqureshi06 said:
ac does not work on my car lol

I didn't say AC lol

Mustang5L5 · Jun 30, 2024

Temp rise would be slightly quicker than if you had coolant with the thermostat installled. Reason is the coolant is mass that can absorb heat, but with the coolant gone, that heat goes into the engine itself rather at a higher rate than if coolant was present.

How long that takes depends on ambient conditions.

I did a no-coolant start on my fox once and let it run 5 mins. Coolant gauge will never register so need to stay on top of things and shut it off sooner, than later.

dqureshi06 · Jun 30, 2024

FastDriver said:
Temps would rise extremely quickly, but might not show up on the gauge as quickly as it overheats the rest of the motor. Without coolant, the ECT gauge wouldn't be submerged in water flowing from the hotspots. Timewise, you wouldn't make it much past the end of your street.

Anyways, if coolant wasn't circulating, the upper radiator hose wouldn't get hot and pressurized. Just squeeze that when it gets up to temp. You should also be able to visually confirm flow by looking in the radiator. Obviously, let it come up to temp with the rad cap off... don't open after pressurized or you could badly burn yourself.

The upper hose right? I mean I squeezed both hoses after driving a little and they were both warm. Is that. A good sign? I've driven the car a few times like 30 minutes after replacing the radiator cap, if there was no coolant circulating at all I would've found out the hard way by now right?

General karthief · Jul 1, 2024

Right.

JD1964 · Jul 7, 2024

Mustang5L5 said:
Temp rise would be slightly quicker than if you had coolant with the thermostat installled. Reason is the coolant is mass that can absorb heat, but with the coolant gone, that heat goes into the engine itself rather at a higher rate than if coolant was present.

How long that takes depends on ambient conditions.

I did a no-coolant start on my fox once and let it run 5 mins. Coolant gauge will never register so need to stay on top of things and shut it off sooner, than later.

5 minutes with a completely dry water jacket?!?! That’s way out of my comfort zone

Mustang5L5 · Jul 8, 2024

JD1964 said:
5 minutes with a completely dry water jacket?!?! That’s way out of my comfort zone

Even with coolant my engine takes forever to warm up, but year...i sat there with a temp gun and watched it like a hawk. I'm not sure if it was 5 mins. Could have been 3. But it wasn't that long.

Engine how fast would an engine overheat with zero coolant

dqureshi06

Member

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

dqureshi06

Member

dqureshi06

Member

FastDriver

I was uncomfortably high & wearing a helmet

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

dqureshi06

Member

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Similar threads

Engine how fast would an engine overheat with zero coolant

Member

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Member

Member

I was uncomfortably high & wearing a helmet

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Member

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency