Toyota Echo bad overheating, but how bad?

Infinitrium · 09 May 2011, 06:54 pm

My brother's 2005 Toyota Echo had it's water pump belt break while he was driving along a narrow bridge with nowhere to pull over. He drove the car just far enough to safely pull into a parking lot. He said the temperature gauge hit almost 260 Fahrenheit before he could shut the motor off. He said he didn't hear any boiling sounds when he shut it off, and his cooling system is in good condition with fairly fresh coolant, clean radiator, etc. Will the motor have suffered any damage during the short time it drove without the water pump belt then overheated?

Doing the Math · 09 May 2011, 07:09 pm

The biggest problem is stopping and shutting the engine off. It is still giving off heat. If he could have put on another belt right away in that parking lot and then run the car to ciruclate the coolant, that would have been better as the cooler water from the rad (well, it is no 260 degrees so it is cooler) that would have been a better solution to lessen any possible damage.

How can you class your cooling system as being "good" if you have a water pump belt(part of the cooling system) that breaks? And belts can last 15 years, or the "el cheapo" will get you out of the store parking lot before it breaks - nah, not even the cheap ones are that cheaply made.

Paul · 09 May 2011, 07:24 pm

A system in good condition pressurized can handle that temp in lots of cases.

One of the purposes of coolant is to raise the boiling point, and the radiator cap and pressure also contribute to this. The fact that it DIDN'T boil means your system is in good repair.

If the engine is running OK with the new belt, all is probably OK.

Keep and eye on the fluids for signs of discoloration anyway just in case......

Sometimes a head gasket will break in a place that doesn't affect running of the engine, but allows engine oil and coolant to intermingle.....

Toyota Echo bad overheating, but how bad?

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