running with no radiator

[Thunderchild]

OK so I wrote my car off and obviously the radiator is wrecked. But the engine is untouched and starts ok however it is obviously without water cooling. the motor warning light did not come on until after a while and the temp meter never came up. so my question is where is the temp meter sensor connected to ? if in the water cooling system ie it senses the water temperature then i'll never get a reading and risk burning it out. did perhaps the warning light come on because something sensed that the water was not going around ? or is that linked to the temperature meter but it did not cvome on wemidiatly but run for a couple of minutes before comming on.

[Toureman]

As you do not give any details of the car it is not easy to give any answer!

Do not run your car without any cooling!

[Thunderchild]

yea sorry it is a Daewoo Matiz

[Andy Boz]

The most common place for a temparature sender is in the top of the cylinder head, usually near the pipe that leads to the top of the radiator. With a broken radiator, you will have no fluid, and therefore the sensor can't sense. any sensors or warning light rely on coolant in the system.

It is possible to run a car without coolant, but not advisable. It has been done for meny years in drag racing circles, where weight is a factor, but only a few minutes at a time. For road use, not a good idea.

Hope this helps

[Thunderchild]

yeas i nkow its ok for a few minutes. i didn't try driving it just ran it to check it all worked ok. I know a guy that put a metal box in place of the radiator and it is too delicate to go bangerracing with a radiator but he remim�nded me it only last a few minutes so the is enough cool water in this tank to last it out wothout over heating the thing