Problems Caused by Overheating?

[LVpine]

I was into my disco 1 yesterday to replace my belt and I think I may have dropped a wrench or something. My roomate borrowed it last night and called me a few hours later saying that the car was overheated badly. The Fan was shredded and chunks of fan had flown into the radiator and punctured some holes in it. My roommate had tried to make it home anyway and let it overheat so bad it wouldn't start.
My question is, what damage might this have done to my engine? It's a 97 with 106K mi. and I've literally never had a single problem except for a power steering leak. It figures that the first real problem I've ever had was entirely caused by me. I know that overheating is bad for an engine and I'm afraid that this will catupult into a series of engine problems. Is there anything I can do now to ensure that no damage was done?

Thanks

LVpine

 

[Disco Mike]

You most likely have a junk engine at this point. Sorry, it is an alloy block and won't take heat, most likely it seized.
Hate to be the one to tell you, but don't look to fix it, cheaper to buy a good used engine.
Mike

 

[Sergei]

Yep. Most likely roommate borrowing just ran you for couple grands. Radiator, fan, whatever else was damaged by flying bits. Plus engine block that made of aluminium isnt very tolerant of overheating. So if you lucky - you may run away with new fan and radiator. Overwise its about 1.300$ for used/new short 4L block (i think Will had one in his Ebay store, and that is if you lucky. It may be more). Plus labor.

 

[DeanBrown3D]

Is there any coolant left? Sounds like your serpentine belt broke and smashed into the fan blades.

There are sensors on the fan and coolant system that feed to the ecu which may be preventing it from starting. If you still have some coolant you might still be ok, since it boils for a while before damaging the engine, at least it did with mine.

Take a look at the oil, does it look hosed? Does it crank over easily? More info is needed

 

[LVpine]

There was no coolant left by the time I got under there. Suprisingly, The belt did not get damaged. The only damage caused by the flying chunks were three large holes in the radiator, a small bite taken out of the main air hose, the fan shroud was completely busted up and the Fire pad thing on the bottom of the hood got torn up a little. I put fluid in it and started it after it sat for a couple of hours and it started up. The radiator is spraying and there is no fan, I only let it run for a minute. It actually sounded ok.

 

[DeanBrown3D]

How old is you roommate and how does he drive? (When no-one's watching). Are you sure he didn't just drive like a lunatic?

I cant see how the fan can disintegrate like that? Redlining it?

 

[LVpine]

Well, my roommate did hear from me for continuing to drive while the car was overheating. But the fan breaking up is probably my fault. I'm not sure, but the only thing I can think of is that I must have dropped a wrench down by the radiator when I was under the hood last night. It's the only possible explanation unless Ya'll have heard of a fan breaking up like that before?

 

[Kyle]

Call me crazy , but wouldnt you know if a wrench was missing ? Definately sounds like a foreign object to me.. Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time... Or something like that,,,blah blah... Put a rad in it and hope for the best , (What other option you got?)

Kyle

 

[LVpine]

Well, I can explain that, I'm the type of guy who keeps his wrenches together in a toolbox but not organized. There must me three or four sets in there just mixed up. The reason I was under the hood yesterday was to replace my belt. I hooked a 15mm up to the tensioner and used any-old-wrench to lever the 15 to loosen the tensioner. If that was the wrench I left in there, I wouldn't know because it wasn't a specific size. I actually started it with the hood open after I put the belt on and it was fine. If i did leave a wrench in there, It had to been down at the bottom by the radiator and not touching the fan until the car went around a corner or something.

 

[p m]

Call me crazy , but wouldnt you know if a wrench was missing ?

I wouldn't... bastards are missing all the time

 

[jmonsrvr]

actually your roomate made the problem worse and ultimately caused you your engine. what dumb ass would drive home or attempt to make it home with the radiator shot and than fan shredded?

anyway your problem went from a few hundred to well over a couple of thousand....

ask your roomate for some money for being such a dumbass!!!

 

[jmonsrvr]

i agree with kyle, put a new radiator in and hope for the best. i just talked to a friend who drove up the baja while overhyeating the whole way....there were times when he was running on little or no coolant....go figure..

cheers

 

[LRWheelman]

Some of our fleet trucks go hard for days w/ little on no coolant. Some ugly trucks just keep goin' LRW.

 

[LRWheelman]

BTW, is it just me or do these Rovers just not like to be driven by "strangers"

 

[DeanBrown3D]

Its kinda neat when you see your own truck driving around, from a different perspective. Just, under strict supervision and guidance....

 

[Greg French]

I blew a coolant bottle on a long(ish) trip. Temp Gauge went up...WAY up. I pulled over and let it cool few a few minutes. Threw some coolant in (which I just happened to have...it's a Land Rover Thing) and the temp has been fine ever since. Putting my new coolant bottle in today.

Replace the cheapest/ most damaged parts first, and hope for the best.
Then beat your roomate about the head and shoulders with his own bloody arm.

 

[Reed]

Its kinda neat when you see your own truck driving around, from a different perspective. Just, under strict supervision and guidance....

If you see your own truck driving around, it is NOT under strick supervision and guidance! (At least not yours.


Hope youcan get by with a new Radiator and fan, etc...

 

[LVpine]

Thanks for the help guys.
From here on out, no one drives my disco but me. By the way, i've allready been looking on the classifiedssd section, but if anyone reading this has a used radiator and/or fan for disco I lying around, I'll buy for reasonable price.

LVpine

 

[p m]

Don't bother with a used radiator, unless the price is a killer and you know that it came from not too old truck.

 

[antichrist]

I've never seen on do it, but I think it was here in GA a fella had a fan blade desintegrate. I beleive it was on a Defender, and he replaced it with a metal one. Unfortunately the metal one's don't have enough clearance on a discovery.
And yes, I'd put in a new radiator and try it, you haven't got much to loose at this point.
Good luck