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I was driving down the freeway a few days back and my belt slipped off the pulleys and I lost all my accessories. I was only 2 miles from home and I didn't know the belt diagram for my car. Also adding that it was 1am. I got the car home and noticed that my temp gauge was at around 250, so I popped the hood and all my coolant in my resevoir and my radiator was gone. The coolant elbow snapped off in the belt tensioner when the belt slipped off the pullies. The car never overheated and I did the coolant elbow swap and added the fluid. The car drives fine and doesn't overheat (stays around 180-210). I just wanted to know if I possibly did any damage. As I said before the temp gauge was never in the red zone.

I would definitely keep an eye on it. You gotta remember that the coolant sensor only works when there is coolant on it. So your actual temps could have been higher if the expansion tank and radiator were empty/very low.

Another thing to take note of is to inspect the wiring going down to the cam sensor and crank sensor. A thrown belt can damage not only the elbows like in your case,but can also damage the wiring that is right there to.

Thats pretty bad... You overheated it pretty badly... But you didn't add water till you fixed it... You may be ok... But I think your oil may have taken a bit of a beating from getting hot... I would at the least change the oil soon...

If you are still running on old LIM gaskets, you seriously stressed them. You may see further problems down the road. You didn't just kill your coolant elbow, you also ran without a water pump. Bad news.

All gaskets are brand new along with the water pump. The car drives fine and stays at a solid 180-200 degrees.

If you have no further issues in the next 6-12 months, consider yourself VERY lucky.

Monitor vital signs, and check for any suspicious leaks or change in the motor religiously.

As I said the car is driving fine. It does not smoke and I have full power. This is a newly rebuilt motor with about 500 miles on it since the rebuild. The car never went past the halfway mark on the temp gauge.

Just curious, did it throw a new belt?

PLAGUE PHANTOM wrote:As I said the car is driving fine. It does not smoke and I have full power. This is a newly rebuilt motor with about 500 miles on it since the rebuild. The car never went past the halfway mark on the temp gauge.

Doesn't matter a bit. What you did was probably the worst thing you could do other than run 3 quarts low on oil. Time will tell, and today means nothing.

Update...car is still running really good. After a few looks at the temp gauge...my guage stopped at 230 when the belt slipped off...not 250. Car is going through a little coolant so i will check my LIM gaskets this weekend.

If this happened to me (on a fresh engine rebuild with 500 miles) I'd be absolutely fuming mad

I really hope for your sake that this has a "happy" ending.

Best of luck to you in the future

*UPDATE* i still have a leak but it is a minor leak. Traced the leak all the up the passenger side of the engine block near the pullies. It isn't much a concern cause it doesn't leak that much. But for future repairs...what would you guys say it is?

99% likely it's the heater/tensioner elbows.

00Beast wrote:99% likely it's the heater/tensioner elbows.

The Heater elbows were just replaced.

We've seen them leak pretty soon after installation. If they weren't installed w/ RTV on the seals then they can leak.

Been there done that, had to learn the hard way the first time.

If it isn't done right, you'll be doing it again. Do it right or live with the leaks.

Thanks to this forum, when I did my plastic elbow/tensioner metal elbow in June. I used the recommended Permatex 27B. Not a single drip has leaked from either elbow

I'm actually the first I know of to do that. I got frustrated by an elbow on a former member's L36 in my driveway a few years ago. New elbow, and it leaked on install. I pulled it and found the o-ring had kinked a little from drag during insertion. I was going to use silicone lubricant, but I didn't want it just lubed, as water pressure might force it out again.

I cleaned and de-greased the hole really well, put a bead of 27b on the o-ring (short end of the elbow so insertion would push the sealant into the o-ring), and popped it in. There is a dry lubricant on the o-rings of new elbows, but I don't think it's sufficient. You also have to remember to allow ample drying time (at least a couple hours) before starting the car.

I've done dozens like that since. Others have with great luck as well.