Well, I certainly won't debate with you on the "high speed factor". I wasn't
going to mention it but I did say that I was on the freeway.
A well tuned Imperial on a nice sunny day, with all of the windows down and the
vent wings both open, no other cars on the road, and my own propensity to
over-indulge (in everything), in a word, YES, I was speeding.
It also sounds like by your knowing what happened, and why, that you can tell
how fast I was going to, right D^2?
That particular Imperial runs very well.
Paul
In a message dated 4/12/2004 9:55:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
>
> Paul. this happened to my 68 LeBaron twice. In both cases, it was high speed
> that triggered the failure, even though the second time I had brand new high
> quality belts. Because of the high engine speed (4000 rpm plus, lets not say
> how many mph that is on 3rd gear) the failed water pump belt damaged the other
> belts as well. After the second failure, I was worried there must be
>something
> wrong with something, but it has not happened again. When I had this failure
> the second time, I had no replacement belts, but it was real late at night on
>a
> cold November night (about 35-40, that's cold for Austin). The trick to make
> it home was to wait a bit until the car cooled down, and then hit the freeway
> at over 85-90. As long as you have a decent "air" speed, the wind through the
> radiator would get the fan spinning, which would spin the water pump and
> restore coolant circulation (it would also make a great excuse to the police
> officer: "I had to drive over 90 to keep my engine cool!"). My appartment is
> only 1.0-1.5 miles from the freeway, but as soon as the speed droped, the fan
> stopped. So this last 1.5 miles was done with 2-3 stops and about 20-30
>minute
> cooling time in between with hood open.
>
> D^2, 2x68
>
> Quoting RandalPark@xxxxxxx:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I drove my '62 Imperial out to my parents house this morning which is about
> > 45 miles of freeway driving east of Seattle. I was nearly there when I
> > noticed that my Temperature Gauge had begun to climb just slightly past the
> > middle. It occurred to me that this car has NEVER run past just less than
>the
> > middle, so I pulled into the service station right at the exit from the
> > freeway.
> >
> > As soon as I stopped, the front of the car suddenly became enveloped in
> > steam, and I shut the car off. I carefully opened the hood to find water
> > spraying out the the radiator cap. I couldn't tell immediately what was
> > wrong, but I didn't see any broken hoses. I then spotted that the water pump
> > belt was gone. Closer inspection revealed that it was wrapped around the
>fan.
> > It actually hadn't broken, but had begun to shred. One of the "shreds"
>became
> > entangled in the fan, ripping the belt off of the pulleys.
> >
> > I remembered that I had bought new belts for the car, and then I realized
> > that they were still in the trunk! I had not installed them! How foolish! At
> > least they were there, and I had a wrench to do the job.
> >
> > I am also fortunate that I watch my gauges, keep and eye on my rear view
> > mirror, and had the sense to put the belts in the trunk, even though they
> > should have already been installed. I was also lucky that I noticed it
>before
> > the car became too hot and caused engine damage.
> >
> > Watch your gauges, and check your belts and hoses! The hotter weather is
> > here.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> >
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