4.7 Overheated- Emergency

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TheEnder

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Hey everyone.

I just took a drive to walmart to pick up some oil and stuff. When getting back, someone was going 10 in a 40 so i passed them up barely stepping on the gas.

Immediately after the engine started to overheat, hit 225, then 235, then got to its hottest of 240. I managed to make it back home, and upon lifting the hood there was steam coming from the middle of the radiator and the entire engine was soaked in coolant. Did i just catastrophically ruin my engine by warping the heads? Where do i go from here?
 

jws123

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Well ya gotta start with the usual since you got it that hot.

Fix leak I assume radiator is shot by the way you describe steam in middle.
Block test to check for combustion gases in system.
Compression test.
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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Well ya gotta start with the usual since you got it that hot.

Fix leak I assume radiator is shot by the way you describe steam in middle.
Block test to check for combustion gases in system.
Compression test.
Compression so far sounds healthy, i ran the engine in flood mode and it sounded perfect. I will be tearing the entire thing apart tomorrow to find out what went wrong. I will be getting a block tester soon though.
 

Burn2k12Ram

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I managed to make it back home
First you should of immediately pulled over once you noticed it overheating. Never take a chance saying "well I am almost there" and keep pushing it. Use your roadside assistance. These motors do not do well at all when over temp.

With that said check all the normal things. Check for coolant leaks by checking the usual places like radiator/waterpump/hoses. Check your fluid level.

Typically these radiators start to leak so that would be my first guess. Problem is once they get really hot then they tend to crack and you could of also caused problem with your water pump so check that as well.
 

Dean2

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What was your air temperature. We see that a lot up here when it gets colder than -10 F. Antifreeze isn't mixed properly so it freezes. Other common cause is Thermostat stuck shut. The excess heat from both causes coolant to come out the overflow or rad cap. Those are the easiest two things to check, after that, water pump failure is the next most common cause of something overheating that fast.

240 is hot, but you are only 28 degrees above the boiling point of water and far below what it usually takes to do serious damage.
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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First you should of immediately pulled over once you noticed it overheating. Never take a chance saying "well I am almost there" and keep pushing it. Use your roadside assistance. These motors do not do well at all when over temp.

With that said check all the normal things. Check for coolant leaks by checking the usual places like radiator/waterpump/hoses. Check your fluid level.

Typically these radiators start to leak so that would be my first guess. Problem is once they get really hot then they tend to crack and you could have also caused problem with your water pump so check that as well.
I had no choice, i was on the highway and didn’t notice it until it was a little too hot.

A short update- the water pump was gone. As i was taking it off and replacing it with a new one the pulley fell out of it and the entire thing was destroyed.

Put new water pump on, bled with distilled water until i go and pickup more coolant. Truck has perfect compression, cranks fine, starts fine. Plugs need to be replaced & it doesn’t feel low on power. Some hesitation and sound i had before seems to be gone with the new water pump.
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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What was your air temperature. We see that a lot up here when it gets colder than -10 F. Antifreeze isn't mixed properly so it freezes. Other common cause is Thermostat stuck shut. The excess heat from both causes coolant to come out the overflow or rad cap. Those are the easiest two things to check, after that, water pump failure is the next most common cause of something overheating that fast.

240 is hot, but you are only 28 degrees above the boiling point of water and far below what it usually takes to do serious damage.
Roughly 43°F ish? As soon as i got home i immediately opened the hood and it started to drop almost instantly (temp wise). I found out it was the water pump that was leaking after adding water into the radiator and it pouring out of the pump. This was before i took the belt off and realized there was basically nothing left.
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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What is your coolant level now that it has cooled off?

Have you checked your oil for coolant content and vice versa?
I ran it for around 30 minutes today (very hard after adding new coolant & bleeding the system) and there’s absolutely nothing in the oil. Did a few 0-80 WOT runs, engine stayed very cool with just distilled water (didn’t get over 206°F).
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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What was your air temperature. We see that a lot up here when it gets colder than -10 F. Antifreeze isn't mixed properly so it freezes. Other common cause is Thermostat stuck shut. The excess heat from both causes coolant to come out the overflow or rad cap. Those are the easiest two things to check, after that, water pump failure is the next most common cause of something overheating that fast.

240 is hot, but you are only 28 degrees above the boiling point of water and far below what it usually takes to do serious damage.
Forgot to mention (or maybe i did) that it never sent any warnings in the cluster for coolant over temp. At the hottest it was just slightly over the 1/2 mark.
 

Dean2

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Glad it worked out so well. Kacked waterpump will do the overheat for sure. You have nothing to worry about, I have had water temp hit over 250 pulling weight in the mountains on real hot days. Takes more than that to create a problem.
 
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TheEnder

TheEnder

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Glad it worked out so well. Kacked waterpump will do the overheat for sure. You have nothing to worry about, I have had water temp hit over 250 pulling weight in the mountains on real hot days. Takes more than that to create a problem.
That’s a relief! For sure. I’m happy it’s fixed now though and that it didn’t happen in a worse situation.
 

turkeybird56

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That’s a relief! For sure. I’m happy it’s fixed now though and that it didn’t happen in a worse situation.
SUH, U got lucky and that Mr Murphy was not knocking on your truck door. Not to be stupid or state the obvious, but hopefully U drained out the distilled, put in the proper coolant with proper concentration for your location, and are now a Happy Camper.
 

Dodge 1500 4X4

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Glad everything is ok, welcome back haven't seen you in a while!!!
 
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