Had water pipe leak and drove the car 70km with no water

A forum for owners of S30 and S130 Datsun Z's... 240Z, 260Z, 280Z and 280ZX!
Lod
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 9:30 am
Car: Datsun 280zx

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I had a water pipe leak and drove the car abt 70km with no water , the engine made a tsssss sound. It doesn't have any power in first, can't pull away. Did I hurt the engine big-time? What is the problem?
Last edited by Rogue One on Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Revised title


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centralcoaster33
Posts: 2769
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
Car: 240SX #5-1997
Location: Central Coast, CA

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Hi and welcome to NICO!

You have may have hurt the car. Cracked or warped heads and blocks come from overheating. Stuck piston rings and messed up valves can happen from overheating.

Check all of your cylinders for compression.
Fill up the coolant system and fix your leak.
Do you have access to tools or a mechanic?

Please, tell us how you know your car overheated and exactly what happened. There is a big difference between seeing the temperature gauge go into the red and having the engine shut off while blowing steam everywhere. Let us know when you had no water or had the leaking start or whatever you know.

It could be really bad and it could be you need to rewire your radiator fans. Please give us more information. I can't tell if you should even start the car or avoid starting the car, let alone drive it or warm it up or anything.

ArmedAviator
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:28 pm
Car: 2012 M37x
Location: SW Ohio

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It is guaranteed that engine damage occurred. As centralcoaster33 said, warped heads are likely which means the head gasket failure is likely imminent. Depending on how hot the heads and block got, you may have failing valve stem seals and piston rings.

I hope if you sell the car as-is, you disclose the overheated engine to the buyer. This will likely require serious surgery.


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