MTFCA Forum

Steve,
It's a practice which I wouldn't condone, but I would like the members views on winter drainage of the cooling system. I run my 27 TT without any additives to lessen the likelihood of coolant leaks. In the winter I drain this out and leave the drain cock open to minimise the chance of freezing. Is internal corrosion likely to cause internal damage to the engine block?

I wouldn't hesitate to run an engine for about 90 seconds without coolant.

Here is my solution!! Fill it up and still lots of access. About $10.00 worth of plumbing fittings!!

I ran it long enough for the head to glow purple, simply because it had boiled dry on a long trip. The radiator was original and getting worse. Got away with it with no damage.

If your stock engine can't idle a couple minutes without coolant before burning up you have a bigger issue than no coolant.

A pre-dry-start is an excellent choice with spray adhesive on a gasket, they have been recommended for years. Run for approximately 30 seconds, let cool overnight and rétorque head. Been doing it for about 40 years with no problems.

Just my $0.03,

Hank

https://youtu.be/NKyQ_twyPMA
My example. Reassembled engine from 4 donor engines. Not exactly ideling. The man that did the work is running it. I'm the guy at the end smiling out loud!

A few seconds would probably not hurt anything, however longer you risk burning or warping the valves and causing pistons to seize in the cylinders. Especially true with aluminum pistons.
Norm

I can’t see about 30 seconds doing any harm.

This was recently discussed. Wish I could find the thread. But most people had the opposite opinion than what was expressed here.

Built many engines over the years and have assisted on more than I can remember. Each and every one of them were run briefly without coolant...no more than a minute or so.

It's never caused an iota of damage, nor will it ever.

I have seen dry-running recommended for making sure all the moisture is out of the block before storage. Drain the coolant, and fire up the engine and run it for a minute or so to warm it up and dry up all the water that pools in the different areas of the engine. Not like running it for an hour or so, just long enough to make sure the engine is hot enough to vaporize any remaining water.

Under the 'your own experience may differ' category...

The '25 was nose facing in while in my garage a bunch of years ago and I decided to reset all of the bolt up sheet metal on the frame by taking it off, prepping it, finishing it, and reinstalling it...no smudges, no scratches, right?

Front all done but not reassembled yet, decide to go around and do the back...but wait a minute...would work better if the car was turned around!

Radiator not on, how hot can an engine get in a quick turn around action?

Fire it up, back out to the driveway, do a K-turn and back into the garage...what it take? All of 2-3 minutes max?

I had a screen door between the house and the garage where I could leave the solid door open and still keep the kids and cats in the house. I immediately went in for lunch, sat down, and on the first bite of my sandwich there was a distinct, "TINK" from the garage! I figured a wrench had fallen on the floor.

I get done my sandwich, walk out, and lo' and behold the hump in the head has split from outlet connection to the point where the hump feathers in to normal head top!! Just like an overripe tomato!

Big sigh, was fixable and I did so in place with what is called a 'rust joint' (thats another story...yet the fix has lasted now 40 years with no weeps). Later I decided that based on dates of casting marks and dates of engine serial number assignment, there was NO aging of Ford castings. They went into car 'green' still full of all the compressive stresses they build up in the casting cooling process. All buttoned up, maybe these stresses just stay there waiting for a chance to get out and as silly as waiting 55 years sounds...it probably saw a temperature just higher than the engine had ever saw before and that was just enough for those long dormant residual stresses to shout "WE'RE FREE!!!!!!" on my 2-3 minute assumption of 'No problem'

You were definitely pushing it George.

There's a lot of difference between running a fresh engine sitting still for 60 seconds and driving around (putting a load on the engine) with one for 2-3 minutes. That's not something I would ever do.

That's cool that your fix has lasted this long though.....T's are tough little buggers.

Doing a quick start up on an existing motor just to see if it starts is fine. Think of a one lunger with a cup of water in it.

If I am starting a new build for the first time, I hook up cooling, because once it starts, I want to adjust mixture and timing, keep it running long enough to break in the cam and lifters, listen for knocks, and give it a heat cycle. I even operate the transmission, and listen to it. I cannot do all that in 60 seconds.

Many years ago in auto shop we were starting a small block Chevy engine that came out of a different car. The engine was in the new car, a 57 Belair, and the radiator was filled with water only , the fan and water pump not hooked up lacking the correct belt, the engine was started , someone said you forgot the thermostat. After running for about 60 seconds and shut off someone pulled the thermostat housing. No one got burned but after just one minute the water was over 140 degrees F.

Im with Hank! Never hurt an engine, including diesels.