URGENT: OVERHEATING QUESTION-93 T-BIRD

my car just over heated and it has aluminium heads. soon as i saw the smoke i shut the engine off will my car be alright or will the heads be warped due to the over heating? thanks for the help

Reply to
josh07
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Could go either way at this point. Once it has cooled off and you have corrected the cause of the overheating, you can do a "shadetree" test. With the engine cold and off, remove the radiator cap and start the engine. Pinch off the tube to the coolant reservoir and place the palm of your hand over the radiator opening. If you feel steadily rising pressure within five seconds or so, or (worse) pulsations, it is pretty certain you have a warped head... maybe both. If you don't feel pressure on your palm within 15 seconds or so you should be okay. Of course, you will feel rising pressure after a minute or two from the engine warming up, so don't confuse the two.

The definitive test (necessary if the first one gives you bad news) is to put air pressure in each cylinder and check for rise in the coolant level or bubbles in the coolant. That will determine which - or neither or both - head(s) is/are at fault.

Good luck.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

The definitive test is that after driving several miles at short and long trips, the engine doesn't lose coolant.

As things heat up, they expand. If there are cracks in the heads, the cracks can open up. As things expand, cracks or leaks that aren't present when an engine is cold can open up.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

It kinda depends on which engine, too. My '93 Cougar V6 stopped making heat one day last spring. When I checked, coolant was low. When filled back up and bled, the pressure cap would release every time the engine was goosed over idle. Big bubbles into the overflow tank. $1700 later, after head gaskets, valve job and timing cover seal fix, she is good as new!

PoD

Reply to
Paul of Dayton

Although that can have false positives - anything that was disturbed by the overheating can cause coolant loss, and often these episodes are caused by coolant loss in the first place. It can also have false negatives - sometimes the coolant loss isn't obvious, even though exhaust gases are carving out a channel through the head gasket. But I agree that the engine isn't out of the woods if coolant is disappearing anywhere.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

thanks for your help guys. i replaced the coolant and drove the car all day today and it did fine i was just mainly worried blowing a headgasket and warping the heads (already replaced once...it was beast) but it seems to be doing fine. thanks again

"Michael Pardee" wrote: >

Reply to
josh07

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