Head Gasket Damage Due to Improper Coolant Refill

[ripnesscobra]

Hey everyone, I am new to the site and was hoping to get some feedback on my coolant drain and refill this past weekend.

My main goal was to drain the coolant out of the cobra (only from the radiator drain plug), then fill the system back up with distilled water, then start the car up and let it run at idle until the thermostat opened up and the fluid flowed through the system, then let it cool down, then drain and repeat. I wanted to get the system filled with distilled water, then drain and fill back up with the coolant/distilled water mix.

The only problem was that I kept filling the system from only the overflow tank and not the crossover tube which I now know is the proper location. I performed this process anywhere between 5 to 8 times. Looking back, there was definitely air in the system and 2 times the high speed fan came on for a few minutes without shutting off prior to me shutting the car down. I watched the temp gauge and it never went above the middle where it normally runs but I know the car must have gotten fairly hot.

My question is has anyone else ever done something like this and if so did you damage your head gasket or anything else? What can I do to check for head gasket damage? From what I have read, it seems like compression check, leak down check and CO2 check. Is there anything else. Does anyone have any procedures for these checks?

Sorry for the long post. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[JBN]

Is your car doing something thats making you think you have a blown head gasket? Doesn't sound like your car got hot? Just fill it up like you've been doing, let it cool off some then fill it from the cross-over tube and you're done.

Compression test is your best bet for a blown head gasket. Odds are if you have a trashed head gasket from over heating, you probably warped a head.

 

[Brutal Metal]

Blown Head Gasket from a coolant change? No bro your OK, just Burp the system and fill with a 60% distilled H2O 40% coolant since your in Mass, I like 75-25 living deep south!

 

[ripnesscobra]

The cobra isn't doing anything to make me think there is a blown head gasket. I am just being cautious seeing the number of blown head gaskets I have read these cars have had from overheating due to air in the system.

I don't think the car got very hot. The high speed fan did kick on for a few minutes without kicking off before I shut it down twice. It was like 60F ambient the day that I did this.

I absolutely baby this car and am usually very knowledgeable when it comes to these things, thats what is bothering me so much.

This weekend, I am going to drain all of the coolant, install Joel's thermostat, fill/burp the system properly, and cross my fingers!

Thanks for the help!

 

[ripnesscobra]

Forgot to add this.

One of my reasons for thinking that the head gasket could possibly blow is due to the expansion of the air in the heads. I would think that the the expansion of the air would push the fluid away from it (least resistance) rather than the head gasket being the path of least resistance but anything is possible. Thoughts?

 

[04CobraMatt]

Dont forget, the temp gaue is reading water temp. Not the head temp where no water is flowing.

If your not noticing anything wrong you probably got away with it, but running a motor with no water flowing in certain parts is really risky for nothing.

 

[Brutal Metal]

Sounds like a NICE plan, summer is approaching, I'd go 70%-30% with a bottle of Redline Water Wetter and when winter approaches throw more straight coolant in!

 

[HISSMAN]

I lost my head gasket, but not due to overheating. Mine was due to improperly torqued head bolts from the factory. We could jiggle the gasket by hand before I removed the heads. Nothing was stripped or anything. it did not look like the typical lifted head syndrome. Plus I was only pushing 17psi and only 10K miles on the engine.

 

[KILRSVT]

sounds more like you have an air pocket.

 

[03slobra2]

I had this happen... go have a shop or a buddy use a vacuum to suck out all the air and then fill up with coolant... you'll be fine...

 

[ripnesscobra]

Thanks for all the advice and history.

I will be working on the cobra this weekend and will post my results/assessments.

Has anyone drained the coolant from the driver's side plug on the engine block? If so, have you had trouble trapping air in the heads? Is there any trick to getting the air out besides the normal burping process?

 

[SnakeBit]

No, the normal process works fine. I find it easier to burp with the front end up on ramps (maybe it's all in my head, but it seems easier).

Also, when you fill the expansion tank, only fill to the line scribed on the side. Rememer it's an expansion tank, so it needs room for expansion. And if you still have the oem burp plug, it has an O-Ring on it so it does NOT need to be real tight. Just snug it down so it won't be so hard to get off next time.