Your not gonna grenade the engine as long as it has oil in it and doesn't get hot. The water pump is probably fine but it needs coolant in it. It may be ok driving it home such a short distance. But I would replace it if all the coolant is already out any way. But that's up to you of course. The other things I would check is the thermostat. They like to get stuck when the car gets hot. And the plastic tanks on the radiator that are just epoxied on.

 

Your not gonna grenade the engine as long as it has oil in it and doesn't get hot. The water pump is probably done but it needs coolant in it. It may be dinner driving it home such a short distance. But I would replace it if all the coolant is already out any way. But that's up to you of course. The other things I would check is the thermostat. They like to get stick when the car gets hot. And the plastic tanks on the radiator that are just epoxied on.

Yeah, didn't know about the plastic tanks until I took a close look. WTF is that??? Guess they wanted to cut 5 whole pounds of weight on a 4K lb car...

I had the water pump and thermostat done about 2K miles ago, I sure hope it's not fried!

Thanks for the response!

 

It’s not going to hurt it to run for a minute without coolant. It takes a couple of minutes just to warm up a little.

 

That's what I wanted to hear! Wasn't looking forward to pushing it out then getting under it w a floor jack and jack stands.

Thanks!

 

Part # 6. What is that called? And how many kidneys do i have to sell to afford to get it fixed? I don't think this is something I can do myself...

 

Part 6 is your coolant overflow tank. In the grand scheme of things - not expensive and easy to replace. Couple of fasteners, a guide and two hoses.... Replaced mine when I did a custom paint job on it.

 

Let me explain...Coming home the other day, I lost all coolant very quickly. SO lucky I was 1/4 mile from my house. Got it back in the garage and shut it down before it got too hot. I need to get under it to see what I'm dealing with, which means I need to get it up on ramps, which means I need to run it for about 30 seconds. My question is, will running it on a nearly empty radiator, for just a short time...30 seconds.. cause any damage? Or do I need to try to fill the radiator best I can, and if yes, can I use distilled water or something besides very expensive OAT coolant that's just going to end up on my driveway? Option B is to push it out of the garage about 30' and get the floor jack under it. Not a big fan of that idea.

I know on the old school cap/rotor/carb cars, it was possible for short periods, but I have no idea about these modern cars. Am I going to grenade the water pump, implode the coolant system, throw crazy codes etc.?

Judging by where the coolant was pouring out, I'm thinking it's just a loose/ bad hose...fingers crossed

Don't take a chance of damaging the engine, assuming it was not already damaged. With out any coolant hot spots around the valves and other areas can occur rapidly.
Fill the system with tap water and locate the leak. With any luck the leak may show up without running the engine. Repair the leak, drain the water, and refill with coolant.

 

Running an engine for a couple minutes without coolant isn't going to harm it. Think about how long it takes for the temp gage to start moving. For a little more evidence, here's a video of a driveline for sale from Cleveland Power and Performance. 6.4 running on pallet. They sell hundreds of power trains this way with zero complaints of engine damage that I'm aware of.

 

How can he find a leak if there is no water/coolant in the system even if the engine is running?

 

One thing to keep in mind even with the thermostat closed coolant is circulating in the engine. On a really cold day the radiator will hardly do anything, the heater core will remove most of the heat. That said I still don’t think it will hurt anything to start it long enough to get it up on ramps.

 

Thank you all for the tips and advice!!

Was able to get under it and found it leaking from the overflow tank. It's in quite the precarious spot though. Still not sure if it's the tank itself or a connection on the hose. Gonna take some disassembly for that diagnosis. Hopefully there a YouTube vid for that...

 

Let me explain...Coming home the other day, I lost all coolant very quickly. SO lucky I was 1/4 mile from my house. Got it back in the garage and shut it down before it got too hot. I need to get under it to see what I'm dealing with, which means I need to get it up on ramps, which means I need to run it for about 30 seconds. My question is, will running it on a nearly empty radiator, for just a short time...30 seconds.. cause any damage? Or do I need to try to fill the radiator best I can, and if yes, can I use distilled water or something besides very expensive OAT coolant that's just going to end up on my driveway? Option B is to push it out of the garage about 30' and get the floor jack under it. Not a big fan of that idea.

I know on the old school cap/rotor/carb cars, it was possible for short periods, but I have no idea about these modern cars. Am I going to grenade the water pump, implode the coolant system, throw crazy codes etc.?

Judging by where the coolant was pouring out, I'm thinking it's just a loose/ bad hose...fingers crossed

There's less of a risk putting up on jack stands when cold than 1/4 mile at op temp with the guage useless. If it lived that little bit home you're safe.