If you're concerned about engine heat don't do this (long)

[stormcrow]

Well, this is how the story goes.

The alternator belt was a little worn and cracked in one spot, so I decided to replace it. I had a brand new belt that came with the car (porsche lable on it) so I installed it as a replacement.

Started the P-car up and checked tension - everything checked out ok. The next evening I decided to go for a drive. Took off up 85 past the mall following a hardley MC doing about 90+.

It was getting dark, so I decided it was time to exit. As I slowed down to get off the interstate there was this mild smell of rubber burning. As I pulled up to the stop sign, the smell went away so I continued on.

About a mile down the road, my gen light came on. Pulled into a gas station and guess what - the alternator belt broke. Not having a replacement with me, and not thinking, I decided to drive on and headed down the road back on the interstate. After about 15 minutes of driving, I looked down and my oil pressure was (embarrasing to say) at 1 mb @ 3500 rpm. (My temp gauge is out of order)

Immediately pulled off at the next exit, stopped the machine with smoke coming out of the rear. Well, what I forgot was that the altenator belt also provides cooling for the engine (embarrased again) and it was hot - I mean real hot - I thought to myself "what the F*** did I do?

Called the wife and she brought the old belt - installed it and tried to start the engine. By this time it had cooled down and no more smoke. Tried to start it and after several tries it started.
Drove it home watching for any signs of problems. Oil pressure went back to normal - no other problems.

Since then I replaced the belt with a new one (guess the one I though was new had been in the kit since 78) have been driving the P-car and have not had any problems. I guess it's true what they say about the 3.0 - it must be bullet proof if it can undergo that kind of punishment and still keep going. Talk about a dumb A** thing to do.

You can be certain that I now carry two spare belts with just in case.


Steve

[bell]

i would change your oil if you haven't already, at really high temps the oil can break down and offer poor lubrication.
it sounds like you were cooking it pretty good.....

[Bill Douglas]

Wow Steve, I'm pleased the car is still OK !!! Especially as it is an SC. One thing I noticed after I installed a new belt is it beds down after a few hours and can need an adjustment. Actually my Porsche brand belt needed another adjustment about a week later. Bill '79SC

[Early_S_Man]

Steve,

What kind of oil was in the engine?

I would strongly suggest draining the oil without running the engine ... and send some of the oil off for analysis. Don't use the car untill you get the results of the oil analysis back!

There is a good possibility for rod bearing and other damage ... unless you were running Mobil 1!

[beepbeep]

I really hope you were running fully synthetic oil, as dino oil gets cooked by high temperatures...

First thing to do is to change oil...i hate to say this, but really high temps can warp heads and do all kind of bad things.

Good luck!

[Adam]

Originally posted by Stormcrow:
Called the wife and she brought the old belt - installed it and tried to start the engine.

Wow.. My girlfriend is no match for that!

I'll bet she's a keeper!

[rstoll]

Yeah Adam, My wife might have brought the belt to me. But she would have never put it on and started the engine for me.

[stormcrow]

All right you guys, stop raggin me, you know what I mean. Anyway, I will do a oil drain the next couple of days and save a sample to have it analyzed.

Anyone out there in the Atlanta area know where I can purchase a oil analysis kit?

Steve

[Bill Douglas]

Steve. I could be wrong, but I believe you can send it to Swepco for an anaylsis.

It might pay to check for, gulp, broken head studs as the engine may have stetched a little more than the usual expansion rates and get a compression test.

[TimT]

The damage, if any is already done...... pass on the oil analysis and just drive the car... you will know soon enough if you have overheated and damaged the engine....and any oil analysis you do will tell you what will be obvious if you HAVE damaged your engine..... make sure the belt is good and drive the car.....enjoy it...

[Joeaksa]

Hate to disagree with timt on this but you should check out the oil. If you "just drive it" and the main or rod bearings are going, then you will end up buying a new crank and possibly a complete motor.

If the pistons have scored the cylinders (and the heads) while you had little or no airflow over them you can possibly save the bottom (crank, rods etc) of the motor IF you stop driving it before the metal gets all throughout the bottom end.

Its up to you... its only $10,000 or so to replace the motor but if it would be my car & motor I would like to know if the guts are coming apart before its announced by the rod poking a hole through the side of the motor some night 50 miles away from home.

Contact any small airport in the area, ask to talk to one of their maintenance people. Ask a mechanic where to buy a "oil sample kit" and it should cost you $25 or so. Any good oil test will show lead (bearings), steel (rods, crank, cam), aluminum (pistons) and so on and give you a reasonable idea of whats going on inside. It may come back clean and then you can go driving and not worry.

We do it all the time with airplanes and their aircooled flat six cylinder motors where you cannot afford to be "just driving" and try to pull over when it pukes. If you need help finding a oil sample kit, email me and I will find one for you in the area.

Joe

[TimT]

well why not do a total overhaul as soon as you see a little extra heat in the engine? whats done is done... if the engine is toasted there is nothing that will undo that.... having your crank cross drilled and rehabbed is about $600.

The oil analysis may cause someone to do a rebuild without warrant. Years ago I drove one of my p-cars with a broken fan belt for about 20 mins..... ( my future x-wife had my attention)

I just replaced the belt and drove for a few more YEARS!!! no harm done.......

been there done that

[schulr]

Steve, you might give Jack Lewis a call. He owns a shop in Norcross and can be reached at 770-849-0302. Good luck

Bob

[Superman]

I take it you were somewhat distracted, Tim?

[Cornpanzer]

Do not drive it! A couple years ago, I had a oil sending unit break and evacuate all the oil out of my 2276 cc Hi-Po VW motor. I thought I had shut it off in time and simply re-filled the oil and continued driving (after a considerable clean-up I may add). Well, the next time I spun her up to 7000 rpm I felt the power drop off followed by the "Death Knock". Tim is correct, no matter what some damage had been done. However, If I had checked things out a little more thoroughly I would have probably only needed to put a new set of bearings in it. But because I kept on driving it I ended up with a spun rod bearing which trashed the crank and blued the rod cap so bad that I had to drive it off with a drift. It was a painful lesson to me....and this was only a VW. I would still be crying if it had been a 911 engine.

[TimT]

yea.. distracted enough to miss that big friggin red light that was on for 20 mins ;-) that engine and car worked for thousands of miles past my over heat incident

[jbripps]

Hey Steve,

I'm no pro, but the third day I had my car, my belt broke too. The bad thing was that I was on the highway, with the sun shining and didn't notice any problems (warning light) until I was just a few clicks from the red zone on the temp. gauge. I thought to myself, "wow, that seems kinda high."

In any event, I drove longer even after that (to a PCA event, go figure). When I got there, we let the car cool down, and a fellow member changed my belt, without incident.

Other than replacing my alternator a few months ago, I've had no problems, and the incident occurred 10K miles ago.

Yes, my 3.2 took a helluva beating, but without injury. I'm pretty lucky. Just be careful. I was naive, but now I know better. Let this be a warning for some newbies......if you see your temp gauge on a 3.2 climb much past the second thin white line, shut her off for a while and don't risk any damage. I think that's about 250 degrees, and as we've all heard, that's "too damn hot!."

regards,

[Doug E]

Steve - sorry to hear about this but hopefully everything checks out b/c my car is looking forward to seeing yours again next year at Hershey.

[Joeaksa]

TimT,

Sorry if I offended you but I have only 37 years twisting wrenches on motors, 22 of them on airplanes with flat six aircooled units. Companzer is describing the exact situation that I would be concerned about with ANY motor run without cooling air or water circulating around the motor.

A wasted crank and rod assy (or possibly worse) for NOTHING! Keep driving and Steve may end up overhauling the COMPLETE motor, or he could do as some of the wiser people on the forum suggest and make sure its not damaged, THEN he can drive it to his hearts content, safe in the knowledge that the oil sample came back clean and nothing is damaged inside.

Drive your own car for 20 minutes with no fan belt and then simply replace it and drive on blindly. I respect my car and its motor a lot more than to do that. To tell the truth, I respect ANY motor more than to do that but then I am an aircraft mechanic and what do I know... Would you and your family get on an airplane knowing that the motor was in this condition? Not mine...

Joe

[stormcrow]

Appreciate the input from you guys. I'm going to drain the oil and have it checked. There should be a place here in Atlanta that can do it.

I'll keep you posted. The saving grace may be that the engine was rebuilt about 15,000 and everything was well within spec.
I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again for your input.

Steve