my first post/I ran my 603 without coolant for 20 minutes.
 

As my name suggests, I am an idiot.
Hello. I have a 1987 mercedes 300d. 603. It WAS perfect. About 3 weeks ago, on a rain slicked road, I did a very minor, accidental "burnout", over revved, and the fan porcupined the engine compartment. looked like a bomb went off. Hoses sliced. hood dented. radiator shot. KABOOM! At the time it happened, I didn't realize. It was raining a lot. The interior is so quiet. I thought I had run over a stick or rock etc. To make a long story short... I ran it, without coolant for about 20 minutes. Temp needle pegged, aux fan on. I ran the heater, no heat. I knew I was F-ed. The motor starts and runs excellent. no smoke. No obvious signs of any damage.
On to my question. What kind of tests can I run, to make sure I am not polishing a turd? Would I be fixing and spending money on a car that is effectively worthless? I am an excellent mechanic, just a bad driver. thank you in advance for any help you may provide.

No real way to tell if any damage was done until you change the rad and hoses. You want to look for bubbles in the coolant while the engine is running.

Was the engine snapping / hissing ? Was there steam for many minutes after the engine was turned off? Did the heat overwhelm you when you opened the hood? Did you lose the lower rad hose?

What was the air temp that day?

Watch the visual quality and usage of coolant over the next few weeks to tel if it is damaged. If it begins to look like chocolate then you have issues. You can drive it like that as long as you keep coolant in it but keep in mind that the oily water is deteriorating the insides of the rubber hoses at the same time. Watch the temp gauge too.

thank you for the quick response.

It was cool and rainy, night time. after 8pm. probably upper 50's Lower hose intact, upper hose sliced. no steam. I have noticed an oil leak though. I got my radiator today from peach parts, going to use the mercedes coolant, and the oe fan from peach parts also. The plastic one. I will throw it together and let you guys know.
So, to recap... look for bubbles, and oil and water mixing in the coolant overflow tank.

And a hard to the touch upper rad hose after a run cycle is a head cracked indicator.

BE SURE TO GET THE 98+ turbo 606 fan, NOT THE 602 fan!!!!!!!! the 602 fan will destroy your radiator!

it must have 11 blades, not 9!!!

You should be more specific here.

what he means is if you have a cold motor, and a soft upper radiator hose, then start the car, drive to the store, shut car off, hose should still be soft, unless the coolant came completely up to temp on the drive.

but actually, the better test is drive all day, feel the hose is hard... then in the morning it should be SOFT! not pressurized.
if sitting idling a cold motor the hose gets hard, it's a sure sign of a head/gasket crack.

Actually, I would say that you are not an idiot for the simple reason that you were watching the temp gauge and pulled over when things got uncomfortable. Most people don't do that. Cheers. You are smarter than the average American as far as this goes.

That is what I thought, wanted to make it clear for the OP.

I had a 2001 Mercury Sable with DOHC. I was driving down the highway one day and it sounded like I hit some rubber on the road. Drove 5 more minutes the low oil pressure light came on and the car was getting too hot. Pulled over right away and had it towed. The water pump runs on a different belt than everything else and it broke. No damage though because I caught it on time. (At least none noticeable for the 8 months and good amount of mileage after that when I sold it)
I always thought, if it had been one of my siblings, that car would be DEAD! But now I know to check the belts before I pay for a tow :rolleyes:

I do everything for my diesels <3

I'm sorry.

It was a good car. I drove it from 2010-2013 and put over 60,000 miles on it. BUT, I love my Mercedes!

Did you replace the radiator? Any news?