Low coolant level. Damage done?

[hardcore302]

My coolant cap turned out to be bad and has since been replaced..
I had been low on coolant, not sure for how long, few months at most, since I check it every oci. But it haa not been low enough to show an overheating condition on the gauge.
I finally started to overheat, checked the cap, and the level, and was way low. Needed more than a gallon.
My question is: can running for a couple of months
With low coolant cause damage, even though it didn't start to overheat, or am I good? It obviously got too low to the point where the computer told me hey, gimme some coolant. Think im ok?

 

[spasm3]

depends on whether the heads got coolant, hard to tell . you might want to have a shop do a check for exhaust gasses in the coolant or do a uoa on the oil.

 

[Mr Nice]

Everything is OK, no need to worry

If there were a problem.... you would of been stranded on the side of the road months ago.

 

[Warstud]

I'm sure it's alright as long as you didn't have a boil-over or see the temp gauge in the red.

 

[hardcore302]

The coolant was shooting out from under the cap, thats how I know it was bad. Is that a boil over? I replaced the cap and not a problem since

 

[dishdude]

If it is running fine, don't worry about it. I would just keep an eye on the coolant level.

 

[willix]

I think it finally got low enough to boil over and it was basically a one time event.

 

[JHZR2]

If you didn't overheat, I wouldn't worry. I would flush the coolant.

 

[hardcore302]

at first I was losing coolant slowly and couldn't figure out why, so I topped it off a few times (not much) and then after that I had a major loss, the one described in my first post. After that,i figured it was the cap.fixed

 

[Warstud]

It's hard to say whether or not any damage was done. Just check it often and if it's not leaking after a two weeks...change it out. Your probably in the clear. Good Luck!

 

[hardcore302]

Thanks everyone!

 

[John_Corey]

Hi hardcore,

Aeration can and eventually will negatively affect coolant. You should drain, flush, and replace the old with new coolant

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
-J

Originally Posted By: hardcore302
My coolant cap turned out to be bad and has since been replaced..
I had been low on coolant, not sure for how long, few months at most, since I check it every oci. But it haa not been low enough to show an overheating condition on the gauge.
I finally started to overheat, checked the cap, and the level, and was way low. Needed more than a gallon.
My question is: can running for a couple of months
With low coolant cause damage, even though it didn't start to overheat, or am I good? It obviously got too low to the point where the computer told me hey, gimme some coolant. Think im ok?

 

[Jasper8146]

How would one do a check of exhaust gases in coolant? What kind of shop can do that and what should it cost? Would what they check for depend upon the particular brand of oil being used? The reason I ask is I have an as yet undiagnosed problem in a 2003 Acura MDX with the 3.5 liter V6 of the engine oil level increasing. I have already done a UOA and nothing definitive was discovered. They think potentially there is a little bit of coolant in the oil, but not enough to say for sure, and there is disagreement as to whether or not the elevated boron and sodium is the result of the present oil, the most recent oil or the coolant. They want me to wait another few thousand miles and do another UOA. I want to hope for the best, but am prepared for the worst, and don't really want to wait a few thousand miles more to find out. Possibly checking the other way for stuff which shouldn't be in the coolant (as opposed to what shouldn't be in the oil) would tell me now whether or not I have a major problem or not.

 

[bullwinkle]

One way is to check for visible bubbles in the radiator filler neck or a rapid pressure buildup when cold. The few motors that I've had coolant leaks into the oil usually presented as a mucus-like goop inside the oil filler cap. I know for diesels there is a test kit which tests for combustion gases in coolant, but it's possible that your coolant is going straight into the oil. If you have a pressurized coolant expansion tank, you should see oily "high water" marks from the sludge deposited on the tank walls. My 6.0's tank got so bad that you couldn't even see through it.