Well, me and my friends went out to a nice open spot to have a little fun with our cars and not have to worry about cops/saftey.. So I was doing a few donuts here and there and the engine temps would get up to about 225 so I'd let the car rest for a second. I was worried I was beating the car too hard, so I wanted to take it a little easy and give her some good time to cool down..


Well, the last round out, I went a little overboard with 2nd gear spins, and a donut or two. I feel like a terrible owner, it slipped my mind that the car was getting hot pretty quick.. Well, In the middle of a spin, the car just died on me. No noise, no clunking or clanking, or anything. It scared the **** out of me. Checked the temp, and it it had to have been near 250-260! Took the key out and opened the hood, no smells, but there was some ticking noise. A few mins later after letting hot air blow through the vent with the hood up, it would try to start but wouldn't get close to starting. About a half our later after some good cool down time, it started and everything seemed fine.. I feel pretty lucky, and I know not to beat on the car too much since it's a 100k mile 14 year old car.


Well my main question is, is there anything that I could've possibly damaged, and signs of damage I should look out for the next few times I drive it?


Also.. is it normal for a car to get this hot, this quick? I was only driving it for about 2 mins, and half of that time was coasting at 10 mph.. It rarely got past 4750-5000 rpm.. If the car sits for a while while running, say 2 mins, it'll get a tad bit past 210.. I'm just thinking of all the HPDE guys that run their car hard for a while, there was no where near as much WOT time as they do, but my car gets hot enough to die after a few donuts that aren't even back to back?

 

Have you checked your fluids?

unless your stroked big heads/cam That doesnt seem normal, Mine does not get over about 180 while hard driving (doughnuts, WOT, burnouts Etc)

 

It really shouldn't matter what you're doing with the car-it shouldn't get THAT much hotter than normal unless there's something wrong with the cooling system. The t-stat, fans and the way the front end is designed all work together to make sure the car stays within a temperature range; 250-260 sounds too high IMO so I'd look into the cooling.

As for post-donut damage, if you didn't hear any death rattles, low oil pressure or have any other issues once the car started it's probably fine; these motors can take a beating and some have done so with 'mods up to 200K or more, although I personally wouldn't push it unless you can rebuild/replace with no problem. I guess you could check your oil for debris?

 

This car is bone stock internal wise, a cat back and lid are the only mods.

I actually haven't checked the fluids since it died, I would go out now but it's dark and raining. I'll check the oil first thing in the morning when I can see.

Well, I just got this car about a month ago. Good maintenince records, etc. It's right above 100k miles, all the fluids should probably be replaced, including motor oil. The owner put a K&N filter that could probably use a cleaning as well. I just couldn't see why it gets so hot.

 

Hmmm.. How loud should the fans sound I can hear them easily in my moms SUV.. It never crossed my mind but I've never heard anything turn on besides the motor, no matter how long/hard I was driving.

 

The fans are very obvious when they start spinning. If you are not hearing them...start looking for any problems in that area.

 

Ok well that's definitely what the problem is, or should be. What would cause the fan to not turn on?

 

Electrical. Check relays, fuses, grounds.

 

Ok, will do. Thanks for the help yall.. Definitely got a good scare tonight.

 

Lol, no fans would cause a problem. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but these cars are set up so that they won't start if they're at a specific 'temp and the fans aren't running. That would explain your no-start 'OP...

 

^^Correct. They have a low speed and a high speed also. When it kicks into high you definitively hear them. If not....well now you know! LOL!

 

Haha.. Can't believe I hadn't noticed something as obvious as the fans not starting. Well, I'm glad it's something this small/simple.

 

That motor is on borrowed time.

 

On an LS1 it's rather noticeable; there's a click and then a loud noise that sounds like a propeller plane taking off. On other cars like my LT1 there are no such signs, I either have to watch the voltmeter drop as the fans turn on or actually look at the fans.

I'm guessing the fans haven't run since you bought the car?

 

If the fans happen to be working, then my next guess would be poor cooling system flow. The car is 14 years old, and who knows how old the coolant is....it may have turned to sludge by now, and several tubes of the radiator may be blocked with that gunk. It's also possibile that pieces of the air dam may be broken or missing, reducing air flow.

 

What makes you say this?





And I'm about to go out and take a look at everything right now. I definitely want to get to the bottom of this problem.

 

Well, the motor oil looks fine. Not milky or anything. No debris like someone had said to look for. Just needs a change next week.

The coolant however... The coolant dipstick wasn't dowsed with fluid, but it was a good amount of fluid.. but the fluid that was on there was reddish brown.. Almost as dark as my motor oil but not quite.

 

Gauges are notoriously inaccurate. That being said, lets hope that the coolant gauge shows hotter than it actually is. My guess is the check engine light should illuminate when the motor gets that hot too. I think head gaskets will leak or the heads will warp at those temps (more than 240*). I think that what the 'borrowed time comment was about.

 

Cancel that last post. It's clear, but with a reddish residue build up on the dipstick. It came off pretty easily on the towel and made the fluid look the same color. But the fluid itself is about clear.

 

I hope so. No check engine light from what I remember, but once it died I was out of the car pretty fast so I don't know...