kalisto2010

Ok, first time Mustang Owner. Complete nimrod when it comes to cars. Today driving home from work I noticed as I was pulling off the turnpike that my Coolant gauge came on and the meter was all the way to the right in the red. So I immediately pulled into the Gas Station. Checked the Coolant and it was bone-dry

So sat for about 20 minutes to let the car cool down. Then I applied coolant into the vehicle. Drove it for a little while and everything seemed fine. However when I looked under the hood I saw dried up white liquid stains on some of the hoses near the bottom of the engine. The last time I had my oil changed and fluids topped off was like 3000 miles ago. I was planning to take it in 2 weeks ago but for many dumb **** reasons I didn't.

So can anyone give me any pointers as to how bad did I screw up my Engine? It drives fine, it doesn't heat up since I applied the coolant, but something tells me there's consequences to such mindless neglect on my part.

cruisin5268d

What do you think of the socks I'm wearing?

What's that, you can't comment without seeing what they look like? Interesting.

There's no way to know how bad you screwed up your engine. Anybody on the internet that tells you otherwise is just guessing. Take it to a capable repair shop and have them go over it.

JFitz

Sounds to me like you "developed" a coolant leak and you did as you should. Provided you didn't drive the car for very long once the light came on, I doubt you did any damage. You probably have either a loose clamp or a split hose that is leaking coolant. When it ran out, the light came on. That's a warning light. You car may not have overheated badly if you pulled over quickly and added coolant. I would continue to check and fill coolant (even water is better than nothing!) as needed until you have the time and funds to get a shop to look at it. If its just a clamp, your oil change service can probably do it easily. Now, if it is all gone tomorrow, this is a more serious leak, and should be taken care of sooner rather than later. You should probably change the thermostat and get a coolant flush anyway, depending on your mileage of course.

drewsky

Hopefully it cooled enough before you added fluid so you didn't crack the block or blow a head gasket by overheating... Ext. Also you probably didn't burp it and not all the fluid is there. (Guessing by your saying you are a car idiot) if the shop is within 5 min take it there if not tow it. You need to have someone from a trustworthy shop look at it. Just saying this by your own words. Don't take offense

BrazenStang

Give yourself some credit. At least you knew where the coolant reservoir is, and how to top off the coolant. There have been horror stories on this forum.... engine flush anybody?

Take it to a shop like everyone said. Does anyone know if these cars have an overtemp shut-off? I think most modern cars do, so if it was still driving then you didn't reach critical temps because you paid attention to the warning signs and pulled over in time.

mmdpg

I think I remember reading in the manual for my 08 GT that if the engine gets too hot it goes into a cool down cycle where only 4 cylinders fire and the others just bring in cold air from the intake to cool the block and it is limited to something like 40 MPH.

johnny_raincloud

I never laughed so hard reading that trolls thread...

"But my friend said it would be ok!"

moosestang

Coolant doesn't just dissappear. You have a leak. You could have warped a head, depends on how hot it got.

BrazenStang

Yeah, you're right. I looked in the owner's manual. It is called "Fail-safe cooling".

OP, if the check engine light didn't come on also then you caught it very early and did the right thing. There is a bunch of steps that the car goes through before eventually shutting down. CEL is the third thing the car does.

Nuke

GT or v6? The v6' s have a chronic problem with cracking of the PLASTIC thermostat housing.