Head Gasket gone?

[liamsp]

Coming home from brands hatch yesterday & I come off the motorway car stalls then notice temp gauge is off the clock hot & smoke coming from bonnet! Turns out a water pipe has a big hole & wont hold water for more than few seconds towed home & left for now question is how strong are these engines as I didnt notice any problem or any change in the car till I came off the motorway so I hope it had just happened does anyone have a similar experience & did you get away with it?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Probably fine. Just fix the problem, replace the coolant & oil then give it a run.

[matt uk]

Have you found out what was wrong with it?

[franv8]

Hmm, pretty strong but no engine is a fan of being cooked dry (did it have much water left in it?)

The heads aren't immune to cracking, but do as Lazza suggests and take it from there. I'd cheat initially and do a fill with plain water, saves you the expense of antifreeze if you find it blows it all out again. After a couple of days test, I'd then drain and refill properly (running without antifreeze is wrong on several counts...)

Hope you haven't got an issue,

Francis

[fr3n2y]

My alternator/waterpump belt snapped a few months back after almost a 100 mile motorway drive and I carried on driving the 3 miles home (slowly, well passed midnight and pi**in down with rain) got home and most of the top of the rad had blown off where i guess it just got too hot! replaced the radiator a couple of days later, refilled with pink stuff and all has been good since then, i was quite surprised that was the only damage, it seems the engines are pretty tough after all!!!

[bluetone]

liamsp said:

Coming home from brands hatch yesterday & I come off the motorway car stalls then notice temp gauge is off the clock hot & smoke coming from bonnet! Turns out a water pipe has a big hole & wont hold water for more than few seconds towed home & left for now question is how strong are these engines as I didnt notice any problem or any change in the car till I came off the motorway so I hope it had just happened does anyone have a similar experience & did you get away with it?

Had the same thing happen on mine some time a go. It was the No. 1 heater hose (top of the engine, feeds through the firewall to the cabin heater matrix. Sprang a leak because the Crank Angle Sensor 'O' ring was weeping/needed replacing and the oil drips onto said hose which is directly underneath. So if it was your No. 1 heater hose that went pop, you should also check your CAS O ring for leaks...

http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/p/308/494.aspx...

http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/p/214/375.aspx...