1989 super coupe

LNGTOY3

Registered User
I just acquired an 89 sc . The person I got it from said the head gaskets were blown. The whole top section of the radiator blew out!! They said all of this happened at the same time. The car does not start, I am just wondering why the radiator would have done that , does anyone have any thoughts? Should it start even with the head gaskets blown? :confused:
 
It may or may not start, depending on the severity of the damage. I wouldn't try it regardless. If there's enough water in the combustion chambers, you could do some serious damage to the pistons or rods.

As far as the radiator blowing out, I'm not sure. What do you mean by "the whole top section" ? Pics?
 
1989 Sc Radiator Pics

LNGTOY3 said:
I just acquired an 89 sc . The person I got it from said the head gaskets were blown. The whole top section of the radiator blew out!! They said all of this happened at the same time. The car does not start, I am just wondering why the radiator would have done that , does anyone have any thoughts? Should it start even with the head gaskets blown? :confused:
Thanks and here are some pics
 

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The blown apart radiator is easy to explain. Headgaskets can blow in several different spots around the circumference of the combustion ring. If they blew in a spot that allowed the combustion pressures into the water jacket this would result in a highly overpressurized cooling system, resulting in what you see on yours. Sounds like yours blew pretty severely and I agree not to try to start the car anymore as there would be a high risk of hydraulic lock which breaks things. As a matter-of-fact damage may have already been done and that could be the reason why it won't start. John
 
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