Hi David, Tough break on the coolant leak. My guess is the engine is still OK if it only ran for ten minutes. Depending on the ambient temperature, the thermostat probably barely had time to open anyway! First try filling up the cooling system with water, then use a pressure tester to find the leak. You might get lucky and find an easy-to-fix hose is just loose. Check your engine oil for signs of coolant contamination. If the leak is a simple one, fix it, start the engine, and bleed the cooling system. Watch the coolant for signs of bubbling while running or oily streaks in it. Once you are confident the leak is fixed, you will want to replace the coolant. For a lasting repair, you should replace all the rubber hoses (like 20 of them), replace all the hose clamps, replace the water pump, and check the radiator and fans for operation. Also make sure the fans kick on when they should via the otterstat. Replace the thermostat too. I would say most of the people on this list have had a similar thing happen and their cars run just fine after fixing the leak. At any rate, you have now witnessed the reason why you should probably put a thousand dollars into the car and overhaul all the critical systems, especially the entire cooling system and a really good tune-up. Low miles definitely do not ensure a perfect car. As these cars age, the lower mile cars are becoming the problematic ones due to a lack of use while the high mile cars are more likely to give reliable service with little investment since they have probably seen more maintenance. They may need more cosmetic work though. Good luck! We are here to help. Andy In a message dated 12/2/2006 5:41:04 P.M. Central Standard Time, daviddcalifornia@xxxxxxxxx writes: I recentley bought a 1981 Dmc with 15k miles on it. The car is not in the best of shape to say the least. Anyway I drove it over the holidays with not too much trouble and put 1k miles on it. [moderator snip] To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/