can you start a car for 30 seconds without coolant on a cold morning?

 

Why?

 

Because he probably already did it.

 

im dong my timing belt and i just want to run it before i put everything back together and incase theres a water pump leak, there wouldnt be coolant draining out of the water pump in case i have to open it up to inspect.

 

Yeah it's fine to run it for 30 seconds. But I wouldn't run it much longer than that. It's nice to get to fire it up to make sure everything is ok before you finish putting everything back together!

 

thats what i figured too since theres not water circulating the engine while its cold anyways.

but i could be wrong that there needs to be water in the block.

 

I can't see how it could hurt anything.

 

how do you plan to check for a coolant leak if there is no coolant in the system to begin with??

also, even though im sure 30 seconds wouldnt hurt much, the water pump is lubricated by coolant so basically you would be running your brand new pump with no lube

 

^this^

There is some coolant flowing through the block when the engine is cold, just not much. Thats what a T-Stat's bypass is for...

Like he said it probably wont do any serious damage. But its extra wear on the water pump most likely.

 

perfect answer. thanks.