Will my engine be alright? Coolant gauge went high and lost 3 of coolant
 

I was a noob.

Changed the coolant but didnt put the bleeder valve back on and drove off. The cool temp gauge reached 3/4 before the HOT TEMP (teel color in the picture). Car didnt throwout any CEL.

But about 3L of coolant did evaporated. I Added back the coolant and car seems to run fine. No white smoke.

But I was wondering what longer term damage have I done.

Thanks for any input!

How does your dipstick look?


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how often do you check your coolant level?

my car did this back in early 2014, about 4-6 months after getting it. was doing my first oil change fluid checks, and found my coolant bottle entirely empty. brought it in for warranty, they couldn't find anything wrong. refilled/burped system, it fluctuated once afterwards. i added more superblue subaru spec coolant, it hasn't really changed since.

:slap: that was dumb! Pay attention to what you're doen.

Your car will most likely be OK.

This used to happen quite often back in the old days. Just take off your T-shirt and wrap it around the radiator cap and open slowly. Check for a split hose and if you find one, duck tape it up.

Dip some water out of a ditch and fill the radiator. Not to worry if the water is dirty or has some trash in it, the trash will stop small leaks.

:thumbsup:

lol Roger. Never change. :clap:

There likely isn't any long term damage.

My dad was driving me back from the emergency room once in our 2000 Camry and going up a long hill with a bunch of turns, the coolant gauge literally was pegged to the max. I told him to immediately pull over and put the hot air on, but he kept going because "we're just a few miles from home". Drove another ~2.5 miles with it more or less pegged there and sometimes fluctuating down partway.

Got home, engine was clicking after turned off - you know, from all the heat. You could feel it radiating off the engine with the hood up in the garage a ton, way more than normal. Coolant overflow was empty.

Filled it up, burped the system, it's still running just fine. Never just keep driving, but at least with a Toyota inline four, the sucker kept going with zero issues.

As others are saying, you're likely fine, even long term. The only thing to note is that the heat puts more strain on your head gasket. But you didn't get excessively hot either, so you're likely fine even in the long run. I've had coolant temps go up high in a few old used vehicles I've owned in the past. As long as this isn't something you allow on a regular basis and take care of the problem quickly, you shouldn't have to worry.