Drove a couple miles without a belt... damage?

**SteveZ28** · 02-14-2010, 12:44 PM

Lost my drive belt and noticed when I turned the wheel and my power steering was out. Was only a couple miles from home so I drove real easy...temp gauge shot up to 3/4 the way to the red (240 degrees maybe)?

Heard some popping sounds from under the hood.... but nothing burst. I'm really hoping that I didn't do any damage to my motor. I haven't checked the oil yet, I'll do that when it cools down and I'll put another belt on and run it to make sure its not burning coolant. Can the engine be damaged from running a 3-4 minutes without the water pump operating?

**sunsetorangess** · 02-14-2010, 01:33 PM

It could have, its hard telling without being there but if so the damage has been done... Without the pump running the coolant wont circulate properly, also the Alt wouldnt charge the battery.
Check all the fluids and top off any if needed. Put a new belt on it and start her up.
I guess the question would be why did you throw a belt?
J

**rbob93** · 02-14-2010, 10:12 PM

Jeezus crissst.....run it!!

This is an LS1 engine, not a newborn infant!!

**Cutlass** · 02-15-2010, 05:11 PM

your probably fine. I'd recommend you change the oil after that mild overheat you had.

**DaddySS** · 02-15-2010, 05:17 PM

Real hot spots in the engine usually wind up boiling the antifreeze, blowing the pressure cap on the radiator, etc. and you get a serious ping or preignition. Sounds like none of that happened so you're probably just fine.

**0rion** · 02-15-2010, 05:21 PM

wow....not sure I'd gamble like that. You're lucky you didn't warp the heads and pop a headgasket. Belt is $20 and takes 5 minutes to put on.......heads are $2k and take 6 hours. I probably would've just pulled over and walked home.

**pajeff02** · 02-15-2010, 06:25 PM

My guess is that you are probably ok, but if it ever happens again shut it down as soon as you can. The factory temp gauge is a POS and is not an accurate indicator of your actual temp. By way of example, after swapping the thermostat and flushing the coolant on our car it airlocked on initial startup. On my scanner, I shut the car off when the temp hit 224 degrees. At that time, the dash gauge read 205 -- almost a 20 degree difference. Hard to tell what your car spiked at unless you have an aftermarket temp gauge in it.

**bberretta** · 02-15-2010, 06:31 PM

Happened to me once before- when they test these motors they put them through hell. If a small overheat one time would kill these motors then they wouldn't be worth crap. You'll be fine as long as you didn't run the hell out of it. Change the oil, check the coolant, and just be careful and don't do it again.

**0rion** · 02-15-2010, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by bberretta

Happened to me once before- when they test these motors they put them through hell. If a small overheat one time would kill these motors then they wouldn't be worth crap. You'll be fine as long as you didn't run the hell out of it. Change the oil, check the coolant, and just be careful and don't do it again.

That's like saying they're crash tested so you can run into a phone pole once and be fine.....spray it off at the car wash, throw on a coat of wax on it, and don't let it happen again. Overheating a car is bad period.

**Hi-Po** · 02-15-2010, 06:57 PM

Overheating any engine, no matter how almighty it may be... is bad.

Up to this point, its a total guessing game through Internet responses. With the engine already up to operating temperature, and then throwing the belt, you have much more of a chance of severely overheating the car in 3-4 minutes. If the car started cold with no belt and ran for 3-4 minutes it would be different, hope it didn't warp the heads etc.

Cant tell until you throw a belt on it and run it! Good luck.

**SteveZ28** · 02-16-2010, 04:29 AM

Thanks for the replies, no signs of antifreeze in the oil, and when I put a new belt on and started it up the exhaust didn't smell any different than normal. There was a slight leak from the coolant fill, but there wasn't any major coolant dump.

A new belt tensioner is in order, along with a fluid change.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-16-2010, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

That's like saying they're crash tested so you can run into a phone pole once and be fine.....spray it off at the car wash, throw on a coat of wax on it, and don't let it happen again. Overheating a car is bad period.

I needed a good laugh this morning, thanks Orion.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-16-2010, 05:49 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

wow....not sure I'd gamble like that. You're lucky you didn't warp the heads and pop a headgasket. Belt is $20 and takes 5 minutes to put on.......heads are $2k and take 6 hours. I probably would've just pulled over and walked home.

I agree, I'd have beat foot home or called someone.
Aluminum is just not as tollerant when it comes to overheating, very easy to warp a head.

**zeetwentyeight** · 02-16-2010, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by 0rion

wow....not sure I'd gamble like that. You're lucky you didn't warp the heads and pop a headgasket. Belt is $20 and takes 5 minutes to put on.......heads are $2k and take 6 hours. I probably would've just pulled over and walked home.

Thats what i would of done but while walking home i would be wondering if anything happened to my car with a tear comin own my face

**V8MUSCLE** · 02-16-2010, 07:05 AM

i learned that on my first car. 96 olds cutlass sierra. blew a head gasket and kept on goin. took the heads off, laid them on a glass table and you could see the warpage. went to the junk yard, got some new heads, ported and polished them myself and installed. my brother rolled it less than a month later.

**Spikito** · 02-16-2010, 08:08 AM

Id think as long as you dont have any strange smells, or anything leaking, youre fine.

The popping was probably just from the metals swelling against each other. Thats where you have to worry about gaskets.

On my 3.8, I had a coolant leak, but it was leaking on top of the block, which was evaporating it, so I had no pooling and wasnt fast enough to see steam. i'll be honest, I overheated it about 6 times that month, trying to find it, were talking all the way to the red. Itd overheat so fast I may not notice it. And I never had problem, but after I got it fixed i flushed the coolant and changed the oil.

**Smittro** · 02-16-2010, 08:25 AM

I'd have the engine gone over completely @ a shop imho. Over heating an engine while may not show up today with signs of damage but over the rest of the life of the engine there could be issues. Not only does aluminum not like sustained heat conditions but your bearings don't care for it either. Exsessive heat can remove the bearings surface coating and cause problems later if not sooner.. I'm not sure of the metalurgical make up of ls1 mains, but in the old days engine bearings contained an amount of lead. Lead as most know likes exsessive heat even less than aluminum. You maybe ok but I'd have it examined by a pro to be sure. Good luck..

**blackSS01** · 02-16-2010, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by rbob93

Jeezus crissst.....run it!!

This is an LS1 engine, not a newborn infant!!

That was awesome! I would say your fine. Not like you were running it hard and it didn't peg. DON'T DO IT AGAIN tho!!

**bberretta** · 02-17-2010, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by 0rion

That's like saying they're crash tested so you can run into a phone pole once and be fine.....spray it off at the car wash, throw on a coat of wax on it, and don't let it happen again. Overheating a car is bad period.

No, they've crash tested it to ensure that you will be safe if you get into a wreck, they stress test it to insure that above average wear won't kill the motor. They don't design them to fall apart outside normal operating procedures but they also don't design them to be run ragged all of the time.

Then again, that would just be common sense- kind of like not running your car into a wall.