Thread: Did I break it??

Quick back story, U12 Det engine. I bypassed the turbo coolant lines while I wait for my AN banjo bolts.

This evening the cap I had on the block failed, and all the coolant went out of the engine. From the time I noticed the coolant loss til I got home was about 5 minutes. Temp gauge never went above half since there was no coolant in the system.

The engine never made any strange noises or act any differently. Once I got home I checked the oil, no coolant in there, but again, there was no more coolant in the system. Checked the spark plugs and they looked ok.

I put another cap on the block and ran the car a few minutes and drained the cooling system, no sign of oil in th water, checked oil, no sign of water on the dip stick.

What are the chances the head gasket didn't fail? At this point I'm just going to wait til my banjos arrive and I'll put it all back together.

Anything else I should look for? I really don't want to pull the head if there's a chance it's all good.

If everything seems normal, no need to tear it down.

Heck, SR20's are tougher than most think, I've hydrolocked mine with fuel (don't ask me how), and overheated the coil by cranking it with no plugs and running. One time I even ran it with tractor oil just to get by

You're probably fine

I stayed out of boost, and kept the RPMs at 2000 til I made it home. Hopefully it wasn't enough heat to warp the head or pop the head gasket. Guess I'll go about it as normal and see if anything weird starts happening.

If u drove nice.... Id say shes fine.... But only time will tell. Keep some extra fluids with ya for a little while if your nervous

If their is no fluid contamination and your plugs are not covered in oil or water you should be good. If you are really nervous I would do a leak down test

You may be in the clear and alright engine-wise, but it is possible the water pump may have been damaged from running dry.

It will take some serious effort to warp the head so I will say..... rule that one out. I have blown a few head gaskets on the old U13 motor before..... running 28 psi....

Water pump is a sealed bearing unit, so water never touches the bearings. Pump shall be fine.

Try running the pump dry some time...

Certainly gonna generate more heat within the bearing not having coolant rushing past it also... How is the seal lubricated? Does the seal only require that small amount of grease from initial instal or does coolant act as a thin grease for thr life the pump on the car