Project Lionheart – Supra Overheating!!!

Supra overheated!!!

Was stuck in traffic with nowhere to stop (no shoulder…crazy motorway design??) when suddenly there was a slight *poof* and white smoke pouring out from right side of the bonnet (that’s where I relocated my radiator overflow tank/bottle to). Temperature gauge quickly climbed up. I had to brave the jam and took the nearest exit while the temp gauge was on past red (!!!!!).

Stopped on the side of the road to find the rad bottle totally soft and the cap blown off by the pressure (water was boiling).

*sigh* waited to cool it down, and braved the road again to get to the nearest service station (5 minutes drive).

Got to the station when the gauge again at the red zone (some of you might be cursing me by now for having no mechanical sympathy). Carefully refilled the radiator with the engine running, to make sure there is no sudden cooling.

OK, temp went back to halfway (normal) and stayed there for a few minutes. Seems ok.

Need to pick up wife for anniversary dinner! Off to the road again for a gruelling 10 minutes drive in the middle of evening rush hour to wife’s office. Then off we went for another 5 minutes to the restaurant.

Almost got to the restaurant when suddenly there’s another *poof* Oh well, must be the bottle cap again.

WRONG! The bottle’s bottom now has a nice explosion mark where the water just tore the skin and gushed out. Nice!

Doesn’t matter. Show must go on, so we had a really nice dinner at Sails restaurant on the marina. Great roasted duck!!!

After dinner, found a giant water bottle abandoned on the carpark! Blessings!!! Refilled the radiator (cold by now) and went to nearest station with the car bleeding coolant through the overflow hose. At least it stayed at half temp.

Bought 500cc can of energy drink, drained the content, mount it to the intake pipe with bungee cord, and plugged the overflow hose into it. Filled the radiator again, and went home.

The Supra temperature stayed at half (normal) during the 15 minutes trip home and motorway driving. GREAT SUCCESS!!

However, no capping on the tank means no pressure = water boils much quicker, also because of antifreeze loss and plain water addon lowering boiling temperature. Boiling water in can seems to have melt the alarm’s bonnet sensor cable (stupidly pinched between can and old rad bottle), now the alarm thinks bonnet is permanently open.

Oh well, got a new radiator can ordered (proper metal this time!) and hopefully will fix this over the weekend, as well as fixing the damaged cable.

Should be an easy task! :)

P.S.

Hopefully no permanent engine damage. Here’s me with fingers tightly crossed.

UPDATE: engine runs!!