I was watching Drag Racing on television when this one team (who was desperately racing against the clock), took these HUGE Ice packs and placed them on top of the engine block trying to cool it down, so they could make repairs between races. I thought WTF? :eek:

I was told to NEVER, EVER, EVER pour cold water either onto (or into) a hot engine. Doing so would cause the block to crack.

Have you ever seen anything like this for youselves :confused:

aren't those aluminum blocks ?

its a big no no if your block is cast, but im pretty sure their blocks are not cast, so its ok.

Is there another method of making an engine block besides casting?

Won't hurt it unless there's no coolant inside the block or another medium to smooth the heat change.

If it did hurt it, a good percentage of the oil and gas production in the USA would get hurt by rain, snow, sleet.

Big stationary engines go down in precipitation quite frequently. In 30 years I've never seen a machine crack because of getting wet when hot if the water jacket was full. Seen plenty of stuff break from a lack of coolant.

In fact I have on numerous occasions fired up a wash rig and hosed down a water pump in order to cool it off so I don't burn my hands as bad changing it out. Heads too.

Dragster engine, different world maybe. I've never even seen one up close and personal and I reserve the right to be completely wrong:D

Common practice in the pits here (NZ) to hose down the radiator, while just off idle, to drop temps then hose down the block, shut down and continue to hose down keeping the whole block wet.
All forms of racing.

In Comp classes cooling with ice is illegal between rounds, but not for the pros. Some Pros run billet blocks (whittled out of a solid block of alumiun) but most use the cheaper cast (also aluminum).

Used Ice on aluminum intakes between rounds I quess I was lucky never had anything crack

:confused:

i guess all those racers that ice down their intakes from the time they turn off the track until they are next in line in the staging lanes have been risking parts breakage.
i tried the "ice down the intake" trick on my T Type when i went to the track a couple of years ago, and the only thing i had after a half hour if the ice bag sitting on top of my turbo and intake was a bag of warm water and a still warm engine.