On 1/28/2013 2:13 AM, wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:59:17 -0500, wrote:

I remember Cadillac advertizing from some time back that their engine
control system would allow the vehicle to run in limp home mode without
coolant in the engine's cooling system. Of course I recall top fuel
dragsters run without a cooling system at all but they rebuild the
engine after every run or two. ^_^

TDD
And they fill the coolant passages with solid heat absorbing material.

What the heck would a "solid heat absorbing material" be?

Cadillac has a special V8 engine that shuts off 4 cylinders for the limp
home mode. I just read about that recently. I forget what they call
the engine, but it seems they are very costly and hard to repair.

What I wish is that all the fuel injected vehicles would have a second
fuel pump to get people home. So many of those in-tank pumps fail
leaving the driver stranded. That happened to me about 7 years ago, it
was a bitter cold night, around 20 below zero. I was out in the country
about 6 miles from home and nearly froze to death. That was before I
owned a cellphone. I probably would have frozen but halfway home I
found a barn filled with cattle, and it was fairly warm in there. I
stayed in the barn till I was warm, then walked the rest of the way
home, barely making it. After that was when I got a pre-paid cellphone
just for emergencies.

The older cars were more likely to limp a person home than these new
ones. Those fuel pumps seem to be a major flaw on the newer cars too.
When they die, it's all over. Start walking! The old mechanical fuel
pumps usually gave a warning and would still limp a person home most of
the time, not to mention they could be changed on the shoulder of a road
in a half hour or less. What they call "progress" these days is not
always true.

By the way, I dont know much about dragsters, but I've been to many
demolition derbys and am amazed how long most of those engines run with
no coolant after a radiator is blown. Of course they are all headed to
the scrap yard anyhow once the show is over.


Cadillac Northstar Engine. ^_^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northstar_engine_series

TDD