i left my car running today to get some change for a parking meter. I came back, and i smelt coolant, i went into my car and saw the temp needle rising past the red mark. The car was idling for probably 8 minutes untill i shut off the car. I dont think the needle was sitting in the red section for a while, cause it was still rising while passing the red mark when i hopped into my car. The coolant was bubling. Is this something to get stressed over, or it takes more than this to kill the head gasket? I have a greddy turbo, would this extra heat do anything internally? Thanks for the help. \

BTW, if my head gasket is somewhat damaged, what will i notice? what kinda leaks, performace degrade...?

 

when I had my eclipse...it took one run down the road...burnt the head gasket,and

blew the motor...id say it was about 5 min of steady 45mph driving.

 

so idle in red for about a minute is nothing to worry about??

BTW: whats inbetween normal conditions (good gasket) and blown engine (bad gasket)?

 

just look for oil and leaking **** from the HG. If not, then your good.

 

there is some seapage around the tranny/head/block area, im not sure if that is from today, because i sprayed the area for oil coming out of the breather. but i dont see any fresh oil running anywhere.

 

After I did my swap on my 90 prelude 1 hose clamp wasn't connected, it leaked all fluid and drove about 30 miles at 70mph+ in 80 degree weather. Nothing happened. You win some you lose some, 8 mins at idle I'd say is safe. Get it fixed...

 

Not to minimize your concerns, or anything, but I've noticed that Honda water temperature gauges aren't worth a ****...

Scenario: you start your car and drive. Gauge sits on 'C' forever. All of a sudden, the needle makes it's move slowly to the middle of the gauge and sits there forever. Actual, water temperature can go up 'n' down 40 degrees and a typical Honda gauge will never move, blah, blah, blah. Honda water temp gauges suck! They are no better than an idiot light, IMHO.

Honda water temp gauges have 3 positions; cold, medium and hot. They are basically worthless!

Having said that, I've <u>heard</u> that if your temp gauge ever does move past the middle (which mine never has), it's bad news. So, to answer YOUR question, it's bad news. You could have cracked a head - you could have lost a head gasket - or, you could have done nothing at all except have a panic attack.

Only time will tell - Honda gauges won't...

 

Well put Deuce.

Chances are it did not do any serious damage.. You might want to get your car checked though.. 8 minutes idling should do NOTHING to the temp.. the car should be able to do that easily.. I sit in my car every morning once i get to school for roughly 10 minutes with the car idling. I know it's not good for the car to idle for long periods of time.. but it's damn cold outside, and it keeps me warm!

Edit: Whenever i leave my car on the temp guage stays where it is.. it never gets any warmer.. it has never gone above about half-way.. it usually sits a little bit below half.


[Modified by Hatchy-Ownzjo0, 5:39 PM 1/31/2003]

 

this is there first time ive ever seen the needle past the half way mark. In the mornings, its take for ever like you guys say, but it usually gets to middle or less depending on the temperature outside. My fan wasnt running while the engine was, this is why it overheated. Gotta get it fixed, but just wanted to know if ive done harm for now... ive tested to see how fast the temp goes up after this, after 5 minutes of idle without the radiator fan, the moves a little about mid point, id say about 5/8 on its way to the red. Thanks for the input guys.

 

get your fan running again. it is bad news, but hey if everything is still good, i wouldn't worry about it.

 

i still wonder...why is it that when you have a bad head gasket, the engine blows, and if its still good, nothing happens. What is in between, a somewhat damaged head gasket?

If i need to get a new head gasket, what mods can i do in the process of replacing the head gasket?

 

I wouldnt sweat it to much, and you wont really be able to tell if your gasket is half gone, its either gonna go soon or youll be fine.

 

hey, thanks everyone for the input...i was just stressing because midterms are rolling around and...wouldnt you worry if your baby just had a life treatening momment? maybe not so similar, but im just afraid of being caught without a ride.

 

Yeah, I feel ya there, when I bent my valves on my sohc, I didnt have a car for months.

 

how do you bend valves, and how would you even know?