Car Overheated.

[skybandit]

Last night I was driving home when i noticed the temp guage was pegged in the red.I pulled over and saw mass quanity's of steam coming from the engine area.The check engine light came on for a brief second about the same time I was pulling over.I opened the engine hood but all i could see was the steam which smelled like the coolant.I waited about 25 minutes then i started it and got to the next exit which was about 1 mile down the road.The temp guage fluctuated for a bit,it went up,then down,then went slowly back up to the top.At this point i was at a school parking lot where i pulled in a shut the car down.I looked in the engine bay and could see no visible signs of damage,no oil leaking or anything like that.There was a little bit of coolant sprayed mostly on top of the air intake hose but with it being dark I couldnt tell if any hose had burst or ruptured.I called my wife to come pick my sorry ass up which took about 25 minutes.When she got there she happened to have a jug of coolant in the trunk of her car which i then put in the MR2.It was a gallon jug and took alot of the coolant.I then waited 10 more minutes,started that puppy up and went on my way.We were 8 miles away from home and the car ran smoothly and the temp guage only went past halfway when i first started driving then stayed normal the rest of the way.What in the blazes could be wrong with my car?The car was inspected the day before and passed with no problems.Sorry about the novel but any help would be appreciated,thanks .

[JekylandHyde]

Turbo MR2?

Whenever you overheat a car, the first thing to do is immediately turn your heater on full blast. This will hel ptake heat out of the engine bay. If you are not smoking, try to cruise without adding any gas ... with the MR2, if you can keep the car moving you are going to get more ambient air through the engine bay. If you stop it, you are going to just let it sit and cook.

If you are smoking bad I would pull over.

It is quite possible you blew a coolant line ~ it happens.
The HFH (hose from hell) is between the engine and the turbo and is fairly common to go. I have also seen the hoses come off above the tranny near the main coolant juntion.

At the very least, your system is going to need to be blew properly now.

[skybandit]

Hey Jekyl,the car is a 91 N/A but I have a theory bout the overheating.The alternator belt broke 2 days before i got it inspected,I put a new one on then drove it to the Inspection Station.However,I was on my way home when the belt broke and drove about 26 miles on battery juice alone,my question is,could the engine have evaporated the coolant and radiator fluid because I was only on battery juice??The fans and such may have not had enough or improper amount of juice to properly function since it was dark and raining and i needed both the lights,wiper and defogger staying on just to get my lame ass home.I filled it today with fluid and such and took it fer a spin with no overheating or strange noise or white smoke coming from it,maybe I dodged a serious bullet...?What do you think?Thanks,Pete. P.S When I replaced the Alt belt the drive to the inspection station was about 1 mile,after the inspection is when i drove it to work which is about 38 miles from home,thanks.