Need some Advise

[JIM KILL]

Hey Gang:
On our Breakfast Cruise (TBV) Sunday, February 12, we all were cruising at (+/-) 80 MPH and "IVO" in is 2004 Z06, blew off a fan belt. His temp ran up to 260 degrees and he pulled off road. John and I stopped to aid him as all good Corvette people will do. We telephoned ahead to lead car and told them we were stuck. Everyone called us back within 5 minute and said drive the Corvette slow to a service station since the car will over heat, but the cylinders will start dropping out one at a time to keep the engine from damage. When the oil reaches a certain point, computer will shut everything down.

Well, we did not believe this and we drove my Corvette back to an Auto Discount store, bought a belt and a 9mm socket and we had "Ivo" back running in about a half hour.

Questions:

Could he have drove the Corvette another 10 miles or so, back to the discount store and fixed the belt there???

Do the cylinders really drop out one at a time???

Thanks
JIM

[RevXtreme 1]

Originally Posted by JIM KILL

Hey Gang:
On our Breakfast Cruise (TBV) Sunday, February 12, we all were cruising at (+/-) 80 MPH and "IVO" in is 2004 Z06, blew off a fan belt. His temp ran up to 260 degrees and he pulled off road. John and I stopped to aid him as all good Corvette people will do. We telephoned ahead to lead car and told them we were stuck. Everyone called us back within 5 minute and said drive the Corvette slow to a service station since the car will over head, but the cylinders will start dropping out one at a time to keep the engine from damage. When the oil reaches a certain point, computer will shut everything down.

Well, we did not believe this and we drove my Corvette back to an Auto Discount store, bought a belt and a 9mm socket and we had "Ivo" back running in about a half hour.

Questions:

Could he have drove the Corvette another 10 miles or so, back to the discount store and fixed the belt there???

Do the cylinders really drop out one at a time???

Thanks
JIM

I would not have risked it, but the computer will give the appropriate warnings as it reaches terminal temps.

[JIM KILL]

Originally Posted by RevXtreme 1

I would not have risked it, but the computer will give the appropriate warnings as it reaches terminal temps.

Thanks Rev:
At least an expert said we did the right thing??
JIM

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by JIM KILL

Thanks Rev:
At least an expert said we did the right thing??
JIM

One additional point to add. Since these things are generally speaking, bottom breathers, low speed would do nothing more than allow the engine to heat up quicker due to less air flow.

In this case, faster would have been better; but, as Rx said, I wouldn't have risked it either. Get the fan belt and put it on. Not that difficult or time consuming

[fletcher4u]

It will go in to reduced power mode and start dropping cylinders, I think its not much better than an idiot light. You guys did the safe thing

[Rich Z]

I guess if I were stuck out in the boonies somewhere with no other option, I would have chanced driving it, but realistically the engine is going to get hotter while driving it even with cylinders dropping out. With the water pump not circulating coolant, even one cylinder firing is generating heat that cannot be shed. I would hope the computer is smart enough to cycle through the cylinders to keep one of them from melting down.

One thing I would do is to replace the oil as soon as I could in case it got frazzled from the high temps. Synthetics are better about this then dino oil, but still, best to play it safe.

Probably not a bad idea to carry a spare belt in the trunk anyway. I know I used to do that with my other vehicles years ago. And that was back when you might have 3 to 4 belts to have to deal with.