When your cars temperature gauge is on H or Red how long does it have to be there for there to be damage? I have an S54 engine and I drove it maybe 15 mins wasn't on red yet but after i went in to a store back out and drove it just a little bit the arrow was in the red. (i turned it off soon as it went into the red) because I was still in the parking lot. how fucked am I? do you think I damaged anything? do you think the car was overheated when I was driving it in that 15 mins and the gauge just didn't go to it? im freaking out fellas..
>S54
>did not overhaul the cooling system
c'mon op, please.
really though, you should be fine if you didn't melt your engine down or blew a radiator hose before you turned it off.
>>15242666
I tried turning it back on when it cooled down a bit and turn on the hot air to see if i could make it home and i think i saw steam come out my ac.. forgot to mention that, idk though i could be crazy too...
>>15242675
Who knows, man
wait for it to cool down entirely and if it starts up again, you're fine, but i wouldnt recommend driving it until you do the overhaul
i'd call a flatbed and get it towed home
>>15242652
As long as it didn't sound like cars in old movies when they crash and it has that like put put die sound you should be ok. Fill it with water and hope like hell it gets you home.
>>15242652
Make sure your fans are working properly. If not it's time to replace water pump, radiator, thermostat, coolant, and hope you didn't fuck any gaskets.
>>15242709
i put water in it to get me home and it started up a little slow but it turned on and ran. it was just low on coolant.
>>15242717
yeah but think why it was low on coolant. Water pumps fail and leak coolant and so can raidator/hoses.
If you ever do work on your cooling system may as well change thermostat they're only a few bucks
LOL at the E46 owner who didn't do a full cooling system overhaul, esp. on an M3. Seriously, though the block is cast iron, so you should be OK but just call a tow truck.
>>15242717
Why are you low on coolant? You might have a leak somewhere.
>s54 is reliable
>Said every BMW fanboy ever
There is no definite answer to a question like this.
>>15242652
>When your cars temperature gauge is on H or Red how long does it have to be there for there to be damage?
if the engine block is iron, and the head is aluminum there is usually some sort of damage once it hits red. Sometimes it isn't bad, and not fatal for the car, but its going to cause problems at some point. With a very long engine like a straight 6, you have most likely caused some sort of damage, if not immediate you have greatly shortened the life of the head gasket.
>>15242754
This. Dont worry about something that may have happened. Deal with what has happened
