So i've been flushing all week, finally got the 180 t stat. My idiot self forgot to put the clamp on the lower radiator hose and blew the line on a short 5 min drive. The ultra gauge never got over 220, would I have caused any damage?

 

Unlikely, unless the ultragauge never got any higher because there was no longer any hot liquid surrounding it. Before freaking out put her all back together and fill it with distilled water, then bleed it a couple times to see what happens.

 

A "momentary" temp spike is not likely to warp the heads and cause head gasket failure.

My wife drove my truck three hours back from the beach many years ago, and told me when she got home that there was this red light on in the instrument panel.

Yeah, uh, that'll do it ...

 

I went and backtraced, looks like it blew a mile from my house, I had only been on about a 3 mile drive. Thanks all sounds like I should be ok!

 

I always wondered if it makes sense to have a gauge for coolant pressure. Your incident answers my question. You would notice a leak some time before the temperature goes up.

 

I think you'd be better off doing it with a level sensor in the overflow bottle. Especially if you run your cap loose and thereby get no pressure. That has saved me many times over the years in my other cars.

 

I agree. Had I seen pressure loss I would have stopped immediately. Gauge stopped around 217, coolant was probably all out by then. That was about a block from my house so hopping it didn’t do too much

positive note the temps look great now with OEM 180!