CHANGE YOUR OIL!!! NOW! DON'T DRIVE IT UNTIL YOU DO! I lost all the coolant in the 360 in my '83. One of the heater hoses slit. I refilled it with water and bypassed the heater core on the water pump. The car ran fine for 10-20 minutes and then died. I was told that had I changed the oil I probably would have been fine, but it was 3 am, so I risked it. Oil smelled *a little* burnt. Expensive lesson. Now I have a crate Magnum in it. The small block is closer to bulletproof than your V-6. I believe you have some aluminum parts (heads) which may warp, but if the car was running OK you should be golden. Good luck, my fingers are crossed, Rob >From: Tim Clevenger <tjclevenger@xxxxxxxxx> >Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: IML: Ol' Faithful (or not) >Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 08:46:51 -0700 (PDT) > >Hi all, > >Well, we had a possible catastrophe on our '91 Imp. The radiator fan quit >working while my wife >was driving home. She got the "Engine temperature critical" readout, >pulled over and let it cool, >then drove home. She also saw some steam. Well, since she was stopped in >a very dangerous place >and had my 3-year-old with her, I decided to risk the damage by having her >complete her trip >despite the steaming. > >A few minutes later, the temp was back up, and she got "Low coolant level" >warning. She pulled >over and let it cool again, and then limped to my in-laws' house. > >When I got there, I found a small puddle on the ground. I removed the >radiator cap and the system >started leaking. It appears to be coming from the drain petcock. I went >ahead and drained the >system, then removed the fan assembly. The fan itself has begun to >separate from the metal >bushing in the center, and jammed the fan in the shroud. The motor then >burned up, finally >kicking the fuse. > >I'm going parts-diving this afternoon. Anybody know of a good Chrysler >yard in the >Fullerton/Orange, CA area? Also, since the pressure was enough to blow out >the petcock, should I >replace my radiator cap? My understanding is that the cap is supposed to >start venting long >before it blows out the radiator or hoses. > >I don't know if there was engine damage. The final part of the trip was >mostly downhill to level, >and the temp stayed high, but in the very top of the normal/bottom of high >range. The radiator >still had about a gallon in it when I drained it, the oil smells okay, and >there were no >"troubling noises" when my wife parked it. I'll replace the fan, fan >motor, fuse, petcock and >refill the system, and hope for the best. > > >Thanks. > >Tim > > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! >http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > >