As a young man I worked for a contractor who gave us an old Econoline van with a straight six. He refused to spend a penny on the truck as long as it started and sorta stopped. He never changed the oil or did any maintenance. One day while driving it the engine began to overheat. A hose had split. I didn't care about the truck and was determined not to be stuck roadside so I continued driving it to the job site steaming all the way. The thing got so hot that it began to seize up or something. By the time I got to the parking lot I had the gas pedal floored and it would only do about 5 mph. It conked out on the lot and I just let it sit while I did my job. At the end of the day I tried starting the truck and amazingly it fired right up. So I taped up the hose, filled it with water and left the radiator cap loose so as to build no pressure. I don't know what all that heat did but it ran with I sould say, 50 percent more power and super responsive. The owner had the hose replaced and we continued driving it on the old oil for months thereafter. I quit the job and that darn thing still was running strong.