Technical How long can you run an engine with no water?

Am I recalling correctly that some flathead drag cars were run with no radiator? Did they fill the water jacket with something to dissipate heat? Or can they be run dry without modification? How long is it safe to run one that way, max?

What about derby cars? How long do they run without water?

 

Cement, sand, plaster....all kinds of stuff was used

 

Lots of newer drag blocks these days have no water jackets. Plenty of Bonneville cars have dry blocks. My flathead Plymouth four had a dry head. Ran it down to the three plenty of times.

 

We ran a flatty altered in the 60's. Just filled the block and heads with water, Push start at the line, made a 1/4 mile run and towed back to the pits. Probably never ran it for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

 

3 miles wide open at Bonneville on gasoline, 5 miles ez on alky. Nitro your on your own...

 

Is it substantially different with an empty water jacket? Anybody done that?

 

I know the answer to this, TILL IT BLOWS UP!

 

I have a Ford Ranger pickup on my property with a cracked head (v6) that hasn't seen water in 5 years. Still runs great, I use it to move stuff around, run it for 10 minutes or so at a time. Runs as good now as it did 5 years ago.

 

when I worked at the junkyard, we put engines on dollies, and then started and ran them until they got warm, then did a compression test. Several minutes, I don't remember exactly...but 5 to 10 sounds reasonable.

 

Depends on the ambient temp... I drove a little Fiat 850 coupe from Southern Illinois to Des Moines and back one December in the 1970s with no problems - when the temps were in the 20s around Christmas. I didn't realize I had a cracked head until I got back to Illinois and it warmed up! Gary

PS Yes, it ran at interstate speeds all that way with no water in the engine. Just air and oil cooling!

 

When I was a kid in the early fifties my neighbor, a crusty old bastard had a 46 ford coupe with 2 cracked heads and a cracked block. He drove that car every day to work for more than a year with nothing but air in the cooling system.
His work was downtown from us about 4 miles away. The final demise came when the stupid old bastard tried to put points in it with the distributor still bolted on the front of the flathead. I tried to tell him that you had to take it out to change the points and it would only go back in one way. Well he told me to mind my own business or he would shove his foot up my ass. So about a week of him working on it he gave up and the poor old carcass was towed away.

 

Till the pistons expand enough to start sticking in the cylinder bores. After that it gets ugly real quick.

 

I would worry about the heads, before the pistons sticking...but yeah, you're probably right, that's when it might quit.

 

Drove my Volkswagen for 80,000 miles with no water in it.

 

My OT dodge van with v6 ran for 30 minutes no water..sparks shooting out the exhaust...next day put a good radiator in it and drove it for a year....go figure...

 

Even water standing still will only reach 100 degrees (C), then it's stuck at that as long as it slowly boils and turns to steam. An empty water jacket has nothing limiting the temperature, so around combustion chambers and exhaust ports the temperature can skyrocket while other areas remain relatively cool.

 

That would be fun to do.
If the fuel line wouldn't have broken it would have run much
Longer.

 

we ran our flathead dragster with just water in the block and heads. On alcohol you had to actually warm up the engine in the staging lanes ensure enough heat to make a good run. The guy we sold it to ran the car with no water with no problems, he would blow air through the block to cool it after a run. You can see the open block in this picture.

 

Are you building a drag car??!

Weber would fill his blocks with ceramic. Not sure about the heads.

In a block and heads filled with water, would you run a check valve or radiator cap to allow pressure to vent as the water heated?

 

We used to beat the hell out of smallblocks in the demo derbys. They never had water, and usually still ran at the end of the three heats.

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I was curious about the extremes possibilities. Someone tried to tell me It would damage an engine to run it even briefly with no water. I've done it several times for brief periods-like 30 seconds. These include instances where we are starting an old engine that has sat for a long time, and we just want to know if it will fire before putting fluid in it. And the case in question- test firing a newly rebuilt motor before it has a car around it.

It makes sense to me that running for such brief periods, the engine does not even get up to operating temperature. However, it was posed to me that localized heat on a cylinder wall with nothing but air behind it would cause damage within 30 seconds. That seems far fetched to me. I'm sure opinions vary. Thanks for offering your opinions and testimonials.

 

Years ago, the water pump bearing seized and snapped the snout off during a snowstorm. I drove that old Buick about ten miles to the next town. Which took about twenty minutes due to weather conditions. Slapped a new pump and drove it for another 6-7 years.

 

Running it is one thing, shutting it off could be another. I rebuilt a Volvo in a early 60s boat. The gasket kit was not right and the water cooled exhaust manifold gasket was wrong. First run after rebuilding, cranked it on a garden hose. Ran like a sewing machine for several minutes until I could physically feel the heat coming off of it. Killed the ignition and it would not turn off. The cylinders were hot enough to diesel. It took a little bit for me to decide to stuff rags down the carbs to stop the air flow. It didn't run away, just wouldn't stop. I don't guess it hurt it because I ran that boat for years before selling it.

 

That stove bolt on fire is awesome...

 

Well I know your dads truck won't be bothered with this pondering


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I suppose the correct question to ask would be: Do you want to continue to use the motor?
5 minutes is usually safe, maybe a bit longer if there is liquid in the cooling system. You can run them until the heads get too hot to touch, if you let them cool down naturally.

My brother-in -law had a late 60s Dodge with a big block that blew a head gasket. The car was a beater, so before he junked it, he wanted to blow the motor up. He drained the rad, wired the carb wide open, and fired it up. He had to shut if off 2 hours later because he had to go to work. The next morning, he drained out the oil, and fired it up. 3 hours later, it ran out of gas! The next morning, he put some gas in it and drove it to the junk yard, about 8 miles away. The motor never quit running, other then when it ran out of gas. He was pretty mad about the whole deal.
The motors you care about the most will have issues before something you really don't care about at all. Gene

 

I ran a VW for decades without water

 

Sorry Tony, somebody already beat you to the punch on that one, but I must say a good one. imagine the Numbnuts
that doesn't get it !

 

I ran my Porsche for 78k miles, with no water at-all!