I was driving on the highway this past week and i noticed my tachometer dropped to zero i am familiar with this problem since i know my belt is due to be replaced. the belt broke while driving but i couldn't stop because i can't leave my truck sitting on the side of the highway for the night. the temp gauge didn't go anywhere near the overheat area it stayed near normal or just below. when i got home i parked and immediately shut her down i noticed i heard coolant bubbling in my reservoir tank.. as soon as i heard the bubbling stop the lower radiator hose sprang a leak and now is in need of replacement... i did not see a leak from anywhere else am i in trouble ?????? my main concern is the water pump is on the main serpentine belt and i have just blown my engine could this be so?? while driving i did not hear any knocking or anything of that sort what should be my next step.

 

How many miles on her? Were your front electric cooling fans running, did you turn on your heater to help cool down the engine, if not you will probably need more then all the hoses, like a t/stat a pressure check and if needed a chemical block test to make sure you didn't take out a head gasket.

 

it has 146,500 roughly and i did keep the heat turned on for the 15 minutes while riding, i forgot to mention i previously replaced the lower radiator hose with a used one and it gave me a leak a couple of times previously so it could be that it was faulty from the beginning....... but not again i just bought a new one that i am awaiting to be delivered, i am going to do a tune up before i fire it up again including plugs air filter and oil and filter change, i will keep a eye on the oil to look for fragments and such. I find it difficult to believe i could have blown my engine since the temp gauge didnt ever near the overheating area it stayed normal the whole time could this be a sign of a faulty thermastat??? additionally i didnt notice any nocking or torque loss or power loss it was still strong. as far as the head gasket goes i heard no hissing or saw no coolant leaking from that area the leak was contained to the hose very near to the connection at the radiator. as far as having my block and lines tested im a high school student and in these times im not thrilled about throwing a couple hundred dollars away at my nearest foreign auto mechanics if im not experiencing signs of serious engine damage. not to shun your help it is very much appreciated i'd just like to keep it on my end as much as possible im sure you understand b/c rovers cost plenty of $$$$$

 

ohh i forgot to mention my electric fans do run normally so i would have to assume they were running then and if they werent i was traveling a highway speed the air could have been enough to keep it cool. thanks

 

fixed it all up yesterday including hose belt and tune up also because i have a high idle i was told to clean the stepper motor i did. when replacing the plugs i noticed one was completely trashed and the rest were not in great shape. i am in need of new wires btu that will come later. cranked it up and it ran well still idled high but then it settled down when it warmed up and i drove it a little while. now the high idle is much more intermittent but not solved. i didnt see any oil leaks i did flush the radiator as well. i notice no power loss or lag in acceleration its actually much better.

 

Do you even know how to bleed the coolant system and why did you install a used hose instead of replace the complete hose set?

 

funny you should ask the used hose was 5 dollars so i guess i got what i paid for.. I bled the system 2 days ago upon hose replacement,the thermostat is working properly the electric fans are working properly. i believe i hyped myself up to believe a problem could have occurred but i am not noticing any..... what else should i be looking to test to be sure engine or coolant system damage has not happened?