Potentially toasted my engine

[Devin]

A few months back I was driving along on a cool night to pick up a friend when I noticed my temp gauge was not backing down like it normally did. Usually it'll hit the O and then go back down. This time it hit red. So instead of stopping I kept driving, mainly because it did eventually go down after about a minute. But it didn't retreat as far as it should have. Then it hit red again. This happened over and over for the next half an hour. I couldn't tell if there was a pattern or not as far as length of time between cycles. I never got any steam.

This leads me to my two questions:

1. Does this sound like a bad thermostat? I'm thinking it does because I wouldn't expect a bad water pump to work sometimes and then not.

2. Did I break my engine? I haven't replaced the heater hose that sprung a leak yet, but I figured I can replace it and the thermostat and bring it up to temp to see if I get any steam/smoke/leaks.

Thoughts?

 

[kevinspann]

Have you run the car since then? If it runs fine, it probably is fine. I would replace the thermostat, if the coolant level is reasonable. If it's pretty low on coolant, that could have been your only issue.

 

[SHOclass]

Same thing happened to me last year ('95 MTX). Turned out to be the thermostat. I drove it longer than I should have in the "red". Changed it out (10 mins) with a fresh one, and no problems since.
FWIW, My temp guage, once pegged only slightly moved down and up. If yours is moving all over the place it may be a different issue. Changing the T-stat, as you probably know is the least expensive and easiest potential solution to your issue.

 

[Northwestvoodoo]

Ditto - Low coolant can make your temps act very oddly. Including but not limited to your wavering gauge. Changing the thermostat is also a good idea.

 

[JRA2000TL]

I've been having issues with the 95 running warmer than normal; had it just up to the H and borderline on the red; drove it 1 mile home w/ no issues. Could be a t-stat, temp sending unit, etc. I also didn't have steam pouring out everywhere. You're probably fine. Mine doesn't run this hot anymore, but it still gets up there more than usual..around the O.

 

[itwonder]

Rent a pressure tester and find the pressure leak; could be a bad cap. Possibly bad or incorrect thermostat or weak fan.

 

[rubydist]

a bad cap or pressure leak somewhere will allow it to run hot even on cool days.

 

[Racer X]

Low pressure/ low coolant. The coolant temp gauge sits relatively high up. A low level will cause intermittent water contact with the sensor, and an erratic sensor reading.

 

[Devin]

Thanks! That gives me some hope. I was worried with the aluminum that it'd be all over. I'll fix the hose, top off the coolant and start it up and see what happens.

 

[thundersho]

I have the same problem with the exception I found out I also have a blown head gasket I have oil in my coolant. .. however changed thermastat and hoses cause hoses blew up ... car overheats rapaidly so was wondering could water pump need to be changed... car is not daily driver luckely, and I'm sure it wouldn't be a bad idea to change the pump anyway along with the rest of the 60 k