about a year ago I bought a set of radiator fan spacers that would pull the fan closer to the radiator and give more clearance for the headers. I installed them yesterday. I didn't see any clearance issues between the fan and radiator after the work was done. today, on the drive from the house back up to the cabin where we live, I noticed the low coolant light come on. I kept my eye on temperatures, and they were normal so we just kept driving. When we got to the cabin, I pop the hood and look at the fan, and it was touching the radiator, and I could see coolant on the outside of the radiator in the engine bay. I waited an hour for the engine to cool down, and then added water to the radiator. it took about a quart, and I didn't see any leak out.

3 questions: is it safe to assume the radiator will hold fluid, as long as it is not pressurized? with that much fluid out of the system, could the water pump have run dry? would it be safe to turn the fans off until I replace the radiator?