Long story short: The block heater I installed maybe a decade ago crapped out on the highway. The little brass winged retainer crapped out. It's somewhere inside the engine's coolant passages. And the engine's coolant is on the highway.

I always wondered how well the scheme worked. Now I know -- to my satisfaction. Er... dis-satisfaction.

You know how people mock generals for fighting the LAST war?
Well, duh. Don't we all? For instance, what I wouldn't have given to have such a cool device as a block heater when I was young -- when we were always going outdoors in Minnesota winters... to put blankets over car engines, hang light bulbs in the engine bay, spray ether in the intake to get them stared...

But now they really seem optional, with improved fuel and ignition systems.
So [expletive] on them!

Longer story: lotsa traffic on the freeway, and I was in the wrong lane, so I accelerated foot-to-floor (a rare event), then finally braked before entering the exit ramp, and the car actually skidded as I swept left, and I was glad not to have had a coffee mug in one hand (etc.) I was embarrassed.

Conclusion, ONLY after several minutes' thought:
1. The high-revving coolant pump stressed the already-aged brass Vee retainer.
2. The car's back end slipped on the discharged coolant.
(And I had begun by thinking things like "apex," and tire condition, weight transfer, whether I had the sway bars sorted out, and how under-practiced a driver I was.)

Next: my wife was giving me directions from the passenger seat. To get to a place we had never been. We were reading street signs.

Conclusion: Using a mobile phone while driving is said to render you with the wits of a drunk. Listening to my wife rendered me less fit and observant than I should have been; e.g. gauges? What gauges? :-(

More: the car pinged on acceleration. The clues were adding up... including what I thought could be a haze on the tailgate glass. (Stop, you idiot!)

Finally: FAQs man Steve Ringlee and others have strongly urged fitting loss-of-coolant alarms to our cars. And I took his advice to heart. But (but! -- doh!) had not gotten the wires properly routed for the appliance on our 740, and had disabled the LOC sensor on our 240, because my bottom-mounted sensor never turned off, without severely over-filling the coolant tank.

Conclusion: The car may have dodged a bullet this time. But I was feel like *I* was the guy who loaded the gun, and left it lying around. I actually apologized to the car before starting it the next day, after a too-long hunt for a replacement freeze plug, and replacing the coolant pump and thermostat (and associated rubber bits), and too many hours on the street with my toolbox. (And I actually apologized to the homeowner for my presence in such a swank neighborhood.)

And thinking that while my heroes were Randy Starkie, Abe, Aye Roll, lucid, Don Foster, John Sargent, Art Benstein, and the other Brickboard saints, what genuine skills I have really lie elsewhere. I am not giving up, just sobered, and trying to rethink my approach to car care. ;-)

Oh, yeah, and wondering if -- despite using what's said to work well, the G5 coolant, and changing it often -- the aging metal Nissens radiator may have contributed to weakening of that under-designed brass bit.