Get a call from my friend Eric last night (red '96 SS) saying he needs to replace his thermostat because his temp. guage is pegged at 260 degrees...well the idiot has been driving like this for the last 5 miles and he said he wanted to go another 5 to his house. Now the damage has probably already been done but I felt the need to tell him to stop his car exactly where he was. So he did on the side of 52....Anyways, I changed the thermostat and went to bleed the system....well his resivoir was dry and his radiator was WAYYYY WAY down (blown head gasket?) I checked the dip stick and didn't see any water on it..and went to smell it but at this point I smell like coolant so I couldn't really tell. Got the radiator and resivoir filled, got it bled and got that car back on the road where the temp was staying around 180-190. So where did all the coolant go, and what problems might he run into in the future because of this mistake? Thanks.

 

anybody?

 

Possibly blown head gasket. Change the oil, its probably burnt, and check for any metal pieces.

 

dont lose all hope just yet.

does the radiator have a leak? hose leak? check those to make sure.

i've overheated my car a few times (not 5 miles though...wtf!)
and it managed.

 

could be a pinhole leak or something.. check for coolant sprayed out on the bottom of car or anything

 

When the fluid boils it goes out the overflow pipe. Put a new thermostat in, fill it up, bleed it, and see how it is then.

 

Well, I have never went that far w/ that kind of over heating, but have seen mine that bad. I had a pinhole leak, and every time I accelerated, it would open up, and shoot out huge amounts!!!!
Dealership did NOT install my water pump correctly. That has been about 3 yrs ago.

Change the oil. Refill the coolant. Pray.

Also, I had mine over heat one time at idle....it was pouring out from the side of the reservior. Horrible. Good luck....

 

My buddys did the same thing blown head gaskets and warped heads is what he ended up with.

 

More than likely this is what is going to happen if not already. A lot of heat, cast iron block with aluminium heads is not good.

I would change oil, fill it up and see what happens, it is possible that it is still Ok. If it is ok I wouldn't expect many more miles before a head gasket does go.