Damage after red-lining engine?

[11B-33T]

Situation is I over-revved my engine this morning e.g. redline is @7000 rpm and I went past redline for about 2-3 seconds. Vehicle is a 1992 Mazda Protege, 1.8L DOHC with 5-spd manual transmission. I immediately shifted to to a higher gear, checked all my gauges and listened for any abnormal noises. Later in the parking lot, I checked the engine for leaks, proper level of fluids etc. All seemed normal.

May I have caused any damage to my engine/car that I can't perceive or did I dodge a bullet on this one-time occurance? Any tips on what else to check? Thanks for any advice (again) guys...

 

[berge]

no. you probably didn't even hit the rev limiter.

If that would cause damage, I would have blown every car I had so far.

seriously.

 

[Master ACiD]

i have that same engine in my daily beater and i redline it almost every day.

dont give it a second thought. youre secondary intake manifold doesnt even open untill 5200 rpm. that leaves you with 1800 rpm to play with.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

If you had hit the rev limiter you would know it. Rev limiters and speed liniters are not exactly subtle when they engage. .. You are fine.

 

[Tree Hugger]

I used to have one of those. Delightful car.
As I recall, it has a red zone not a red line on the tach. Don't go in there and stay there, but an occasional excursion is fine. I did it every few months. In the five years I had mine, I did over 100mph every day except for 5 days, I was in bed sick on two of those five days.

 

[methusaleh]

I've driven a car that I redlined at least a half dozen times a day for various reasons, and it lived until about 175K miles with regular (but not loving) maintenance...I was not the owner, obviously!

 

[Palut]

That zone is just there to warn you that you're nearing the rev-limiter. You won't hurt your engine unless you go past the limiter.

Just to be sure, you drove up into the red zone, and you didn't miss a shift? If you missed a shift, then there would most likely be engine damage. If you just drove into the red zone, then you're fine.

 

[ChrisW]

My 94 civic ex begins the 'redline' at 7200rpm, and the rev limiter kicks in at 7500rpm. There appears to be no speed limiter on it...tops out at 130mph (aerodynamicly limited i'm sure, its a 4cyl after all, on stock suspension and aero and engine, 130mph is where the speedo stops marking, and I doubt its any accurate at that speed or above 100mph)...this is a 5spd car btw. I think the newer manual civics have a speed limiter set at 125mph.

Yeah, I 'redline' my car everyday, esp merging onto the freeway, this car makes no torque below 5000rpm.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

LOL. I had a truck with a speed ;limiter set at 107. Out of curiosity I did activate it just to see what happens. It's like the ignition is cut off until the speed drops a few MPH.
Our BMW has a limiter ~150 MPH.. I have not found a private safe stretch to see how that system works and don't plan on doing it on a public road(I hear too many Bubba stories about jail).

 

[11B-33T]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I did stray into the red zone and I didn't miss a gear but I'll endeavor to keep myself outta situations like that again!

Nice to know that my Pro can getup & boogie if I need to..

 

[Drew99GT]

Just make sure you don't over-rev it from a downshift cause the rev limiter won't help ya in that situation!