Q45 overheated

[rooster1]

My son drove the 90 Q45 to work this morning and called saying the car had died. Apparently it overheated on him with no warning. He said there was a lot of water and coolant all over the ground and inside the engine compartment. Sounds like the blow-off on the radiator went off. Anyway I went out to check on the car and the hoses looked good, I refilled the radiator and no leaks. Afraid the head gaskets may have burned up I checked the oil for water and there was none. Feeling lucky at this point I attempted to start the car. This was after several hours of the incident so the engine was cool. Unfortuntately it wouldn't start. It turned over really good but wouldn't catch fire. Does anyone out there know what our problem may be? I was thinking a bad thermostat caused the original problem but why it wouldn't start now doesn't make sense. We don't know exactly how far he drove it after it got hot because he got no warning from the gauge. I am hoping it is not a compression problem due to burnt rings. Any ideas? Thanks for your help. Oh and it does have gas.......:-)

[superuber]

Did he shut it down or continue to drive it?If it was driven hot for to long it probably did serious damage.

Oh, Welcome to Nico!

[rooster1]

Hard to say exactly how far he drove it since the gauge didn't warn him. My guess is that the valves may be damaged or heads warped if he drove it too long. However when that happens you usually lose your head gaskets first and dump water into your oil pan. That is not always 100% though. Anyway thanks for your response. I appreciate it.

[Raxephon]

Have you checked the compression on all 8 cylinders?

Only way to be certain as to whether the motor is FUBAR or not is to pull the heads and check for damage, warpage, and excessive clearances.

My white Q45 overheated on its original owner "SurfinGator", but only needed a bit of cleaning and some fresh head gaskets.