Howdy guys,

I have been driving the '83 300sd I just bought for the past two weeks and LOVING it. Took it on an inaugural roadtrip, got a new injection pump and nozzles, all new gp, and some other things. I havent been posting here much because I have found pretty much everything I need using the search. I am a total newbie at German cars and diesel, and I am going to beed a lot of help with DIY.

Well last night, I was headed home late and all of the sudden, I see steam and coolant shooting out of the engine compartment and covering the passenger side of the car. (temp gauge sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. new temp sending unit made it work for about a day). I pull over, and watch in dismay as coolant drains out from under the hood to a chorus hissing steam. It appears that the skinny hose that runs around the coolant recovery bottle towards the front came unhooked. I had it towed to my mechanic. The car was running smooth when I shut off the engine. Am i totally screwed here? Did I burn the engine up? Any chance I didnt cause any damage? Should I have added coolant (I was worried I would crack the block)? Does any coolant stay in the radiator when that hose comes loose from the recovery bottle? Thanks for your help. I hope and pray I am not done with this beauty before I even get started. This is the first running car Ive had in almost two years, and I was really starting to get used to it.

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1983 300SD (got it for five bills!)
Austin, TX

Odds are nothing happened......on the 617 anyway...trick is how long you dove it that way which by your explaination was not much.....one thing to remember when this happens is never dump cold water into a hot motor...

let the motor cool down first.....

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

If you stopped the vehicle at the first sign of the overheat, the chances of you damaging anything on a 617 are virtually nil. You definitely should not have added coolant to an overheated engine. Most of the coolant stays in the engine but, it is attempting to get out of the radiator due to the leak at the hose.

BTW, returning said hose to its proper place is a two minute job. You might consider replacing the hose if it is a bit old. Fill it up with coolant and you are done.

A little bit of coolant will make a LOT of steam. As long as you didn't lose a lot of coolant from the radiator and the block, and run that way for a while, chances are it looked a lot worse than it was. Clean it up, reconnect the lines, fill it back up with coolant and see how she runs.

Best Regards,
Jim