Engine ran without cooling! EDIT: everything seems to be OK!

[CB]

We went out for an evening spin through town.
All went good 'till some ticking was noticeable from the engine also some smoke came out of the heads.
We drove back home (5 miles / 5' drive) parked the car, opened the hood and almost died!
Blue/black smoke came out of the engine (top). Radiator was completely empty.

Now the big question:

What is damaged?
What gave the ticking sound?
What's the first step to take?
Is my engine toasted (=cruising season over) ?
Please HELP!!  

[Mefirst]

My first bet is that you fried your head gaskets.. If its realy bad you also might have fried piston rings, valves, etc..
Have you tried to turn the engine carefully with a "have no idea what the tools name is in english" just to see if it will turn around, if it makes noise, etc.. ?

How in the world didint you check if there was coolant liquid in the radiator Is the Temp gauge busted?

Im sorry to hear this.. Damn, Im also having more problems than I could ever have imagined with my ride.. -Isnt the car hobby fun

/Tom

[CB]

you guessed it : temp gauge is MIA and I just filled 'er up with fresh coolant.
No way I expected to have a leak  
One thing's for sure: radiator 'll need to be replaced. 

[bull]

Don't drive it if it's making noise and smoking! If something goes wrong or is acting weird, always, always stop and check things out thoroughly before proceding any distance over 1/8 mile or so. That's how bad gets to worse.

[Chryco Psycho]

generally the piston rings & valve guides will take the beating , it may now use oil or it may be ok

[CB]

I am searching for the right radiator and a new waterpump to make sure the cooling is optimal.
Hopefully it still runs ok.
thanks again

[MoparYoungGun]

Sorry to hear this CB, I hope the damage isn't to severe.

[Charger_Fan]

How in the world didint you check if there was coolant liquid in the radiator Is the Temp gauge busted?

I once had a car leak most of it's coolant out & the gauge didn't show anything wrong...because the sender wasn't immersed in coolant any more, it was exposed to air.

Although, when I noticed something wrong, I immediately pulled over & let it cool.

I hope your engine's ok.

[thallium]

hey, you live and learn right?  If you toasted the engine, just get back in there and fix it when you get the time and money.  I'm telling you these mopar engines are pretty stout. I've seen my friend overheat his mopar many times and it still keep on running. If you are running iron heads, you probably didn't even blow the head gasket. Keep an eye on everything when you fire her back up.  Check the oil periodically to see if it's get milky.

[CB]

thanks for the comforting words.
tonight I'll will check 'er and see if anything is wrong.

[Charger_Croatia]

Sorry to hear this CB. I hope it is not so serious. 

[71charger_fan]

I bought a Shadow a few years ago and the guy didn't tell me the temp gauge didn't work.  It seemed as if it did.  It moved about a 1/3 of the way across and stayed there just as if there was nothing wrong.  Then engine was running great and strong.  No funny noises, no funny smells.  Then, at about 65mph just north of Lancaster, PA, it just died.  I coasted to the side of the road and opened the hood.  I thought I'd opened an oven door.  That was the hottest engine I'd ever seen.  The seller had neglected to mention there was a bad headgasket.  It had used every drop of coolant then started to burn itself out.

I also had a Shelby Lancer TII that blew a headgasket.  Although the temp gauge did work in that one my son, who was driving it at the time, paid no attention to it.  He drove it all evening with no coolant.  Left it at his girlfriend's house when it wouldn't start later that night then went back the next day, started it up and drove it home, still with no coolant.  Using synthetic oil saved the engine on that one.  It didn't burn up with the heat as conventional would have.  I put a new headgasket in it, replaced a few very brittle vacuum lines, and it was fine.  The field mice finally killed it by chewing the engine harness and shorting out it's electronic brain(s).

[Ghoste]

This might be a good time for a leakdown test.