I just picked up a 1985 F350 toast edition couple of days ago - thing burnt down pretty good. I redid the fuel return system last night and rigged up enough of it to get it running today - it sounds alright, but its got a pretty good white puff out of one if not two cylinders. Seems this can often just be air purging out of the system and will go away on its own after some time at RPM, but... the truck has no cooling system at the moment, I don't even have the fan spinning. How long do you think its safe to idle it for?
How long can you run an IDI with no coolant?
- Thread starter fsr7
- Start date
vegas39
Full Access Member
It's safe to idle as long as the temp gauge says so, just watch it and make sure it doesnt get hot.
As far as the engine goes from previous overheating, its probably already screwed.
As far as the engine goes from previous overheating, its probably already screwed.
reklund
Full Access Member
temp gauge won't do any good without coolant in the system.
Black dawg
Registered User
Yea, you could atleast cap the lower hose off and fill the block with coolant, but you still wont really be able to run the engine long enough to really check it out.
ToughOldFord
The Cold Glow-Plug
Yep.
The truck burnt - from an interior fire out, I have no reason to believe the engine was overheated - the majority of the damage is firewall back. No gauges left though, so that's a non issue.
That's not a bad idea to cap the bottom and fill the engine - I'll at least have a indicator of when its hot, it will start boiling over. I'll give that a shot.
That's not a bad idea to cap the bottom and fill the engine - I'll at least have a indicator of when its hot, it will start boiling over. I'll give that a shot.
2 minutes, any more in my opinion and you run the risk of cracking a head, torching a gasket. even full of water i dont do any more. just my preference.
Ya they don't build heat in a functioning cooling system very easy at idle....but...without coolant all this heat goes into the oil and the block and can cause problems quickly...so ya bout 2 minutes let cool for bout 2 hours or till cool to touch.
JM2CW
JM2CW
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
Ok.. So now we know the truck burned from inside out of the cab. No problem. The engine wont be harmed from the fire usually. Now as for time running with no coolant or water going thru the block and heads. I'm thinking 90 seconds to 2 minutes max. Even thats a long time in my feelings. The white smoke can be an injector not closing and you have too much diesel in the cylinder. Are you attempting to see if the engine is ok or are you thinking something else with the engine.
Bashby
Full Access Member
Filling the block with water will help some, but with no circulation you are heating things up unevenly, the combustion chambers will build a lot of heat in a small area. A minute or two probably won't hurt but I wouldn't take the chance if I didn't have to.
oregon96psd
Full Access Member
pull the thermostat and stuff a garden hose in the lower hose? Then run the **** out of it. Core engines are cheap anyways......
Similar threads
