Archangels

so basically this is what happened....

i was driving home after picking my car up from the mechanics, i was happy because it's finally back on the roads after getting a few things done to it, i went to give it a bit of gas and it sputtered and i was like "aww, well ****, something again", but i glanced down at the temp. guage and saw it rising from half way to 3/4, mabe slightly over when i screamed "WHAT THE ****!" and shut my car off instantly....

basically i was stranded and called my mechanic and freaked, lovely i'd say....

i lifted the hood and heard hissing comming from what i believed to be the bottom of my engine bay, mabe it was the rad hose though, weither the case i saw coolant drip on the floor and i almost **** myself....

i just had the coolant changed so i'm thinking that it may have been run-off from when the mechanic drained the fluid but i'm not sure, it's not leaking now....

when i opened the hood the rad was kold aswell as the rad hose, i didnt know what was going on....

i started the car after letting it kool for 20mins and drove it another 30secs till the temp. guage started creeping again, as usual i shut it off right away and let it kool....

i did this twice, mabe 3times and got it to the mechanics, he opened the rad and literally filled it with another 3litres of koolant, once again i almost ****....

after he filled it up he explained that it could have had a pocket of air in the system and thats what could have caused it, so he opened the bleeder skrew on my rad and released some air....

afterwards i drove home and around and the car was fine, never overheated or did anything stupid....

i severely doubt i hurt my car at all but i was wondering how bitchy these cars can be, it didnt go past 3/4 of the guage and never near the end....

the car started to smoke a little after we let it sit and idle a bit to check if it would overheat but i wiffed the smoke and my eyes burned and started to tear, it was gas but i thought i would mention it....

gotta love my luck....

Archangels

stupid double post....

bl0d

S5's are supposed to have a horribly inaccurate guage that i've been quoted as being a "cold, normal, you're screwed", but since i don't know how that relates to your situation i can't say right off if it's toast. The only sure fire way that i know of, short of tearing the engine apart, is having the system pressure tested. That will tell you if you fried your coolant seals, which will lead to more overheating problems down the line.

DJRcustoms

I agree, have it pressure tested if you are worried but I don't think you did any damage.

Archangels

so although i saw the needle going up past half way to 3/4 the way up i could still be skrewed although it happened for a split second then i turned my car off instantly afterwards!?

bl0d

Possibility, but i don't know if "working its way up" is included in that "you're screwed" heat range. Somebody with an S5 that knows more should chime in, since i have an S4.

Archangels

i hope someone chimes in, one of the regs. would be nice....

it barely went over half before i freaked and shut the car off....

DJRcustoms

Lets say "if" your temp gauge was working right (taking in mind the tend to be buggy on some S5's) it shouldn't hurt it if it did only get to half way, on my S4 i had the temp go to just a hair over half way and found that the only bad part was my thermostat. After I replaced it it worked fine and tested just fine.

I think when people say "Overheated" they might mean into the red and beyond, not just anything over midpoint.

Archangels

thats why i said nearly....

when i hear overheated i think of it boiling over, inwhich i only had it go 3/4 up the guage....

but the coolant that i found on the ground worried me a little, especially the hissing....

'89Vert

Speaking from having to rebuild my engine due to coolant seals. Once it starts creeping up, it's already waaaaayyy hotter than it should be...i.e. 220F or higher. You did the right thing shutting it down quickly... but driving it back to the mechanic's may not have been the greatest idea. Heating it up not once, but two or three times could have done the trick. The only real way to know is check your compression and keep your eye open for white, coolant scented smoke coming out the exhaust. I hope it isn't, but good luck.

Archangels

i'm currious as to how it would already be 220F if the needle was creeping up....

'89Vert

S5's have notoriously HORRIBLE stock temp gauges. As was previously mentioned it has three settings, cold, warm, you're F***ed. If it isn't blown, consider this lucky and make your next purchase an aftermarket temp gauge.

Archangels

* sigh *

****

'89Vert

I can't stress enough....Get the car compression checked before you take any drastic measures.

slpin

iTrader: (9)

you guys are soooo overreacting
you are fine, youd rove it home, it didnt creep up, open teh radiator cap and let it idle, rev it a few times and look for bubbles
you are fine...

the engine isnt made of glass

'89Vert

I have to disagree. I see too many people underreact to something like this, only to find that oops...I blew my coolant seals 6 months ago only to make the problem worse by not taking precautions (i.e. unusable housings, rotors, etc.). This may just be two different schools of thought, but I would rather drive the car carefully until I can prove the car is ok, rather then beating on it until I can prove I f-ed it up.

No, the engine isn't made of glass, but without knowing the mileage on the engine, or rebuilds done (if any), it's safe to assume in most cases with our cars that the engine may not be in the best condition. This is also taking into consideration the fact that it was already at the mechanics having work done. Could it just be an oil change, or something completely unrelated? Could he have only 1k miles on a rebuild? Sure, but I'm only going on what I have to work with.

But again, it may just be a matter of opinion...

Archangels

the motor has less then 55,000km's and it's a JSPEC motor....

the other one cratered on itself with the previous owner, this motor was put in and i got my hands on the car and i have absolutely babied it since....

Chooks

After reading this threat I have a question. I drive an S5 TII and once my car heats up the needle on my temp gauge sits above exactly half just a little. i'll have to get a pic but anyway is this the normal operating temp for the gauge since S5 gauges are inaccurate? or should it never go past half?

slpin

iTrader: (9)

a blown coolant seal is simply that, it wont create unusable housings, rotors, etc, unless you let the car SIT for 6 months. i am sure most people with an understanding of the engine would either recommend keep running the engine with a coolant seal leak (provided it doesnt keep overheating) than to let it sit.... or yank it out for a rebuild. you let a engine with a coolant seal leak sit, it will get worst. just drive it till you can get a rebuild. judging from his case, he is fine.


see, now you got someone freaking out about their car..
stop posting misinformation.

Archangels

my car doesent overheat and it seams to run a little kolder after the coolant change....

i'll admit though, i'm freaked....

slpin

iTrader: (9)

exactly, you are FINE.

bl0d

Note of curiosity, would it be feasible to replace just the coolant seals or would you be better off replacing everything (even on a recent rebuild or low milage motor)? My car is a little harder to start right now after it got toasty the other day (3/4's, S4 gauge), but i also just adjusted the TPS to 1.0v from it's original 1.4v.

Then again i did change the coolant after that...and today the add coolant light lit up...

fstrnyou

just bleed the air out and top it off. i had my S4 gauge pegged on a brand new rebuild because i filled the radiator up not knowing that the block was still empty. you'll never have a "dry block" issue if you drill a small hole in the thermostat, or fill the block before you install the thermostat.

camman

the deffinition of overheat is coolant boiling out of the rad cap. Most of the time (and I said most), a gauge reading high with low coolant is from air over the coolant sensor. Most likely nothing happend to your engine. If anything did the place that did your rad flush is liable. I you aren't overheating now and you are not loosing coolant you are ok. Short times at 220+ won't hurt your engine. Most t-stats don't even open fully 'til 195deg.

Archangels

i understand the shop would be liable, this is true....

i might be using a little bit of coolant, or mabe i keep topping it off because my rad cap seams to leak a little bit, or i'm filling it because the rad isnt 100% full....

* shrugs *