Done something stupid, advice please !

Started car yesterday to give it a 30 min run in the garage, got distracted and didn't remove the cover from the front !

30 mins later all the cooling fluid is on the floor !!!

I think the cover was stopping the fan pull in cool air and it overheated, temp gauge was just below red !

I left to cool and now coolant tank is empty.

I assume I fill 50:50 antifreeze and distilled water but how much ?

Advice please !

Thanks

 

You will want to search for Cooling Flush too. There are some tricks to do it yourself. There is a bleed valve that you will be working with. Take your time!

 

questions:
what is the purpose to have the car 30min idle in garage? winter snow?
cover from front? what's that?
thanks.
ps sorry about the troubles with the car

 

1. Don't drive it in the winter or wet (UK weather is crap!)
2. Has a full car cover, I took off 2/3rds left front covered
3. Started car
4. Forgot to take full cover off

 

Yow....once idled my 04 for 25 minutes before leaving for the open road...20 minutes later had the slow down light...was going to propose to my sweetie...limped the car home and it has not done it again in 600 miles...joke now is that the gods were telling me to slow down the proposal...didn't slow that down but I have a happy hot blond that actually like's me more than my car...I think

 

Nice....but in true F-Chat fashion, pics or it didn't happen! Somewhere here there is an appropriate section for this evidence!

 

Hopefully, the headgaskets survived... I would be checking oil and coolant frequently for cross-contamination to make sure the headgaskets weren't compromised...

 

You totally beat me to it!!

 

Oh OK. thanks
good luck with fix. Hopefully not too expensive

 

- I have a coolant flushing procedure that would likely help you perform the refill; let me know if you want a copy.

- In any event, you may wish to burp (bleed) the system upon refill

 

I just did the same thing although I removed the entire cover. I did this for two reasons:

1 - I wanted to move my car so I wouldn't get a flat spot on my tires because this winter won't end.
2 - I miss sitting in my car and pushing the Engine Start or "Adrenaline" button and hearing that music that emanates from the exhaust. Again because this winter won't end.

Hopefully you just overheated and no damage done. Sounds like just a boil over to me.

 

Yeah, seems to be fine.

Just topped up with about 1.5 lts and it seems to be fine so I guess just a boil over with pressure coming out of the pressure relief cap and drain hose.

Thanks for all the advice.

Cheers

 

Pump the tires to around 40psi, top off gas with fuel stabilizer and let it sit all winter. You will not get flat spots - this must have happened way back in the day when tire technology wasn't up to par. I do this every year. And almost nobody has longer winters than us in Wisconsin. Starting the car will only create unwanted condensation, even for a longer run like 30min, all the hot pipes and metal has to cool down, just not worth it in my opinion.

 

I agree, letting it run while sitting like that is one of the worst things you can do the car, If you can't drive it, let it sit.

 

Thanks guys, didn't know this, how long do you go between starts / runs ???

 

Once my baby idles at 1k (usually around 2 to three minutes), I drive her and don't shift past 3500 until oil warms up. After that all bets are off!

 

My 360 went a whole week once without being started...I was on vacation in France that week.

But seriously, modern day cars can easily go for months without issues just waiting for the right break in the weather.

Since the OP is in the UK...my 1934 Singer can sometimes sit a 6-8 months without me starting it, never fails to start after that length of time.

 

Here in the Seattle area it rains about 80% of the time from November to April, so the car doesn't leave the garage too often for those months. Ideally, the sun will break through and the roads dry out at least once each month, which gives me a window to get the car out for a while. I just use the battery cut-off when I park and go through the start-up procedure the next time I head out, which seems to be working well; no issues with starting.

I don't have it with me, but I believe the owner's manual actually mentioned something about using the battery cut-off if the car might sit longer than a month, or something to that effect, so I would assume that getting it out and running a couple of times over the course of the winter is probably sufficient to keep everything in proper order.

 

Don't forget to run the A/C compressor when a nice winter's day presents an opportunity to go for drive. Unlike your home refrigerator, your car has a rotating shaft seal between the atmosphere and the refrigerant gas. Letting it sit for long periods is bad and is a primary cause for slow refrigerant leaks, so be sure to rotate it when you have the chance. It only takes a few minutes.