You've lost water, how much time before the engine is damaged?

[Alexx]

Just curious if people might want to share their "lost water while the car was running" stories. How long before the engine was turned off and did the car's engine suffer as as result?

 

I once accidentally left the fan motor disconnected for a week or two. Luckily the radiator was full. Here's the trippy part. It's the middle of summer, middle of the day, I'm by LAX in bumper to bumper traffic.

 

I see the temperature gauge go past the middle point, which it never used to do because normally the fan would kick in. The light turns green and a few minutes later I get on the freeway and the temperature drops. That was probably over 12 years ago and the car seemed to survive that two weeks without the fan working.

 

Another time, this one really bugs me. I started the car to warm it up and got distracted by a phone call, the car stayed in fast idle for um, quite a while. Probably 45 minutes to perhaps an hour and 15 minutes . When I came out, I could hear the fan running and the car fast idling and I thought I had ruined the engine because the fast idle didn't automatically slow down when the car warmed up, sheesh. That happened 12-13 years ago.

 

Then there was the time I drove to another state and left the oil stick at the gas station where I was checking my fluids before leaving. I drove in a rainstorm for over an hour without the oil stick and the opening exposed to the rain. Actually I drove from California to Phoenix without the oil stick. When I realized what I had done I changed the oil in Phoenix before I headed back.

 

I found my oil stick exactly where I left it two days later! That happened 7 years ago. So I think I survived those long ago faux paus as I still am on the original engine, which is now at 256,000 miles.

[Adam N.D.J.]

Doesn't sound like you've really lost water, if the fan was on with it fast idleing, there is no problem there, it will actually be a little better because the water pump will pump the water faster. I've left my Brat running for a couple hours with no problems. (Subaru's are multi-purpose, they serve as generators too).

If it didn't over heats and boil out when you were sitting on the freeway, then it would be fine too.

As for the dipstick, that ain't a problem either, with the hood on, and the airflow through the engine compartment, you don't get much water that even makes it too the dipstick, I've driven my rigs in the most horrendous rain storms before, open the hood to check the oil and the engine was still dry.

As for longevity, the wifes 3dr has almost 200K on it, and she ain't the nicest driver by any means. I don't think I have a rig to date with less than 150K on it, although there only 1 that has the stock, or unrebuilt motor in it, and that is the 3dr.

So unless your actually boiling over, I wouldn't worry, although do check the water occasionally, I check mine every couple of weeks and throw a little in there to top it off. You do lose a little naturally.

[Alexx]

Maybe I should have been a bit clearer, you are right, I've never actually lost water while I was driving my subaru, loss of water and oil deprivation are probably the two biggest causes of engine death in general.

 

However, I am curious what others have experienced in the area of loss of water while the engine was still running. Did they continue to operate the car anyway, for how long, what was the result?

[theDirtyRue]

Last summer, I was driving to a friends house before heading to spokane( 30 miles) when a coolant hose burst...Big time. I was about two miles from home. I limped it to my friends house and left it thouhere for the night( you can still see my trail of coolant leading to his house:D ). At the time we had no idea what had happened. When i came back the next day, i poured some water into it and heard it running right back out. Kept pouring until i pinpointed the noise, felt around and found a considerably large hole in the hose. The whole bottom half had literally blown out. It was the second time this had happened. The first i didn't loose as much coolant for some reason.

 

Anyway, I limped the car home after i filled the radiator to the brim along with the overflow tank. I was out of coolant within a 1/2 mile and just kept on goin.

 

I ended up goin about two miles with next to no coolant. I replaced the hose and havent had any problems yet.

[GeneralDisorder]

It depends a lot on the condition of the engine as to how long you can go without coolant. For example - I recently did the head gaskets on my Brat, and about 3 days after, the heater core return line burst and I lost every drop of coolant - I'm talking BONE DRY. I didn't see the guage right away - I did notice the engine start to ping a little. It got worse is a hurry. I pulled over thinking for sure one of the head gaskets I had just replaced had blown. I looked at the guage and it was pegged out - way above the red. Who knows how hot it was. Anyway I decided to drive it anyway figureing the damage was done, and hoping it would get me home. I restarted the engine - temp guage was still in the red. Started driving and the pinging was still there - getting worse by the minute. I drove about another mile to the next exit and pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot. By the time I shut the engine down it was pinging so badly it sounded like a severe rod knock, and I couldn't go over 30 MPH. I called a friend who brought me a hose, and some coolant. I let it cool for about an hour - made the repair and filled it up. Started right up like nothing had happened, and I drove away. As far as I can tell 7k miles later no damage was done. The engine was so hot that the grime on the block had started to smoke. The guage was pegged out, and it was still getting hotter because the pinging got much worse as I continued to drive.

 

I'm now a believer in the Fel-Pro permatorque head gaskets - they survived that punishment, so that's the gasket for me from now on.

 

Seriously tho - I would think nothing of any of the situations you described. It sounds like you have cared for your car well over the years. I wouldn't hesitate to drive with no dipstick, no radiator fan, and my radiator only half full. I've driven with about 1 quart of coolant before and it only got slightly hot (right at the bottom of the red). My wagon idles for long periods sometimes when I'm off-roading. The digi-guage sits at about 3/4 most of the time when it's doing that. Hasn't hurt it yet.

 

GD

[Alexx]

Ouch! Don't try that stuff at home with your subaru!

[the sucker king]

i had a radiator split at the seem and run bone dry while i was on the highway (in an ea71). i didn't notice till the guage was pinned, i lost power, and was spitting blue exhaust. i pulled over, let it cool, refilled it and limped to the baseball game. after the game we refilled, drove 45miles home with one stop where we cooled down and refilled. then i replaced the radiator, changed the oil and she lived many more years.

i don't recomend this, but i was impressed that the car handled it. i really thought i killed her that day.