Cleveland8

I own a 2004 AT with about 96K miles on it. I am often on the highways comuting in Cleveland. A few weeks ago a car merged in front of me a few car lengths ahead, dropped a chunk of ice out of their wheel well, I ran over said ice chunk (cars on both sides, could not avoid it) which punctured my radiator. I pulled off as quickly as I could at the exit, which was less than 1 mile from ice chunk to end of off ramp. I turned on hazards, turned the heat on full blast, and made my way off the highway with noticable steam streaming behind me. 30 yards from the end of the ramp the car stalled. I assumed at that point that once the engine reached a certain tempature, it cut the fuel to the engine. After replacing the radiator, the dealership calls to say the engine is fried - the seals are damaged and the engine needs to be replaced. This is insurance work, so I am not out a great deal from my wallet, but I took great care of my ride and am really disappointed this happened. I can not get over how quickly the engine over heated and was damaged beyond repair. It was 17 degrees that morning and windy.

I am currently awaiting a new motor to be installed...

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

tough luck man

Uncivilizedracer

deezam that sucks

CaptainEggs

makes me wana get the oil guards.

laythor

it's possible the damage to your seals (assuming apex) was found during a compression test and had nothing to do with the ice taking out your radiator.

CarAndDriver

Sorry to hear that. Someone else got hit with some road debris. Bad luck this week.

RACESHARK

iTrader: (1)

That sucks ! good luck witg the new engine

White_Shadows

Chaulk it up as a free new engine. You were getting up there in miles and with the 04 motor.

xexok

Before having it go through your insurance maybe try telling them to prove to you that the over heating caused the engine to blow. Like you said you didn't travel very far at all, and if they cant prove it was the heat that caused it wouldn't they replace it under warranty?

unknown__Disciple

iTrader: (1)

dud what is up with people and hitting ****? i hit a cat a week ago and tore the plastics underneath my 8, its gonna cost me around $460 to fix

rodjonathan

iTrader: (6)

got dam really bad week! sorry to hear but at least youll get a new engine

HockeyRX-8

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear.

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

new engine FTW

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

I assume the dealer was talking about the coolant seals on the rotor housings. The rotary is a hot running engine. And it doesn't take long for the rotor housing coolant seal area below the leading sparkplugs to heat up. This is the hottest area of the engine due to combustion.
If the engine overheated due to a lack of coolant (radiator leak) it could compromise the coolant seals and allow coolant to enter the combustion chamber. Also causes combustion gases to build in the cooling system. Can happen real quick.

MazDangerous86

iTrader: (1)

I know, tell me bout it. I hit a blind and handicapped schoolchild recently, he got all caught up in my wheelwell. His leg braces really did a number on my oil cooler. It's gonna cost like a grand to fix it all like new, not to mention the detail work to remove all the 'road detritus' from the fairing. Ugh.

Razz1

Cars heat up real fast. Sounds like you didn't have a leak butt....

A large whole where it immediately emptied.

CrazyJek

Sorry to hear bro. Hey, at least your getting a new engine at 96k.

I had my car 7 weeks and i need a new paint job cuz someones house door fell on it. Glass scratched up over 70%. Insurance is being a pain in the *** now since the wind was "partially" at fault.

My luck really is as bad as i thought it was.

Anywayz, good luck bro. Hope everything goes well for you and her.

ZachLegend

This is a good time for a new engine! Look at the positives! sorry though dude

James429

OK, what the heck is happening this year? On the 31st of January, I found the only icy road in D.C. that hadn't been totally plowed. No longer on my WINTER specific tires, I had my newer all season tires on. Well, I was only going 25 or less in 3rd gear. So no more than 3k RPM. Down shifted to 2nd (heal and toed it to be safe) and slowly pressed the brakes. The ABS kicked in and I assume that I let off the clutch and locked up the rears sliding on the ice. Hit the snow (which was pretty much iced over by then) it slowed me down, took out the entire undertray/valance and then came the tree. Hit it with the front bumper. Good thing it stopped me as a telephone pole was next. I was unrestrained. I know, an ER / Trauma RN should know better. But I was only living 0.9 miles from the ER. Back to the belt now, though. Only $2500 in damage with no airbag deployment and I rented an SUV for all that snow a few wks back.

So, I drive down to D.C. and then back to Pittsburgh in the same day. I wanted my toy back.

En route, about 110 miles from home on the PA turnpike near Someset, I hit a truck tire at about 75mph. The bang was unreal. I kept driving. Moments later the heat guage went crazy high very quickly. I pulled over and shut her down. She wouldn't start...not sure why. I finally got her started and removed some of the plastic that blocked the radiator. It drove fine with good power and normal temps for a little while. Then I was like that pilot Sully...every alarm and error light went nuts. Lost a lot of engine power. Kept pulling over and let it cool, but kept the revs around 2k so she wouldn't stall.

She managed to make it over 80 miles before flames out the back and underneath the car (normal out the exhaust as there is no cat - but this wasn't like that) started, the engine temp gauge (over the 80 some miles went from cold to hot like crazy) spiked and she stalled.

That was it. She got towed about 20 miles to a repair shop and my brother picked me up at 1am. Thank God, because for that entire 80 miles, I had no heat...guess that got jacked in the accident.

So, they are pushing it in tomorrow to inspect it.

I'm sure the engine is toast, right?

Guess that's not too bad for a 2004 GT 6spd with 76k miles on it and for only a $500 deductible?

What do you all think?

PS - I was informed by my insurance company that they won't give me a "new" engine. Only one with less than or equal miles. They will also transfer my performance and new pieces to it (K&N Typhoon II air intake, new coils and plugs about 5k miles ago - hope they aren't screwed.)

Oh, and when I was trying to bring this beast in off the mountains safely, she would die uphills. Like, even down to 1st gear and 18mph with no more than 4k ever showing on the tach. Downhill, I could slowly accelerate (slower than the damn 18-wheelers that caused the damage) but never over 4k before I had to shift.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Cleveland8- Sorry to hear about your problem.
A few years ago I was driving down RT8 towards Akron at 3am and it started snowing.
The roads were fine, but visibility quickly got worse.
Next thing I knew there was an object in my lane, and I had no time to react much.
Instead of swerving and possibly hitting another vehicle, I just centered the car and braced for impact.
The object went under my bumper and right into the radiator.
It ended up costing over $5400 worth of damage (thank god for insurance).
But the object was a brake chamber from a semi... you would think he'd need that particular component.

Anyway... we have an Akron/Cleveland section in the regional threads.
Feel free to say hi and watch for any meet/install days.
https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/akron-cleveland-8-owners-59020/

Groo

Even in 17 degree weather? I mean, that's cold! A few years back I had a 4 cyl engine whose water pump broke, but it was similar weather (cold!) and I was able to drive careful enough to maintain the engine temp w/o having any radiator flow long enough to get home (~10 miles).