Engine 'coolant' frozen solid - advice?

Discussion in 'General Vehicle Chat' started by RobC, Dec 19, 2009.

  1. alexisblades99 Forum Member

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    interestingly there's a bucket of coolant that came out of one of the rally cars which has turned slushy. it looked blue and smelled of antifreeze, but clearly that wasn't enough to stop it freezing up (admittedly it has been quite chilly lately).

    it goes off after a couple of years too i think?
     
  2. Matt82

    Matt82 Forum Addict

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    blue stuff is meant to last 2 years. i found that the blue stuff in my mk3 started to go brown (rusty) just before 2 years!

    i stick with the pink g12 stuff, easy to get hold of etc
     
  3. Phat Ass Forum Member

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    This happened to me today, literally word for word, although mine ran for a good minute seemingly ok before i stopped it after popping the bonnet and noticed the aux belt in pieces. Was a bit of steam, looked like condensation evaporating while i scraped the windows.

    My own fault entirely, no-one to blame, so lesson learned :( Pushed my luck one night too far for various complex reasons. Going to thaw it out tomorrow and see what the damage is.
     
  4. oldskooldub Forum Member

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    Run the engine without the belt and the engine heat will melt the ice, when melted drain, refill with antifreeze, put the belt back on and check for leaks/damage and pray :thumbup:
     
  5. Phat Ass Forum Member

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    Just got to hope the battery holds out, been a bit weak recently and no belt means not alternator either. But its still the best way to defrost it.
     
  6. Mike_H Forum Addict

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    I was thinking that... although I've never done it. If you run it without the water pump belt for a minute (if it'll start) and then let it sit, while the residual heat in the oil gets through the block. If your parents place is very close, you might be able to drive there without the belts. You don't want to heat it up too quickly though.
     
  7. RobC Forum Member

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    Its a g60 so doesn't the belt also run round the charger and alternator? Would it even start without the charger connected?

    Things are looking pretty bleak here - can't get any breakdown service in Preston area to come and recover it to the garage, maybe cos its Sunday or maybe cos they're really busy, but no one is answering the phone. RAC said they weren't accepting any new customers as they can't cope with the demand. Awesome.
     
  8. pigbladder Forum Addict

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    g60 will run with the belt off...but yeah you kinda need the alternator if its more than a few mins

    if you do run it...drape a blanket over the grille so its touching the floor so the heat can get at the rad
     
  9. whitty New Member

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    let it thaw naturally

    get some antifreeze in it as soon as thawed

    hope the core plugs have done their job and thats all you have to replace if it froze really hard !
     
  10. Collie Forum Junkie

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    try freeway they do recovery etc.
     
  11. Nige

    Nige Paid Member Paid Member

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    As I said last night, IMO, the longer you leave it, the more the likelihood of damage increases.
     
  12. micky1 Forum Member

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    i froze up my mk1 gti years ago.....pushed a core plug out....thats what there for!

    get it inside a garage, get some heat in there, get it defrosted take the rad out if nessasary. take the water pump belt off run the engine for a few mins then turn it off this will et a little bit of temp in the block and freeup the water pump.
     
  13. oldskooldub Forum Member

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    They are actually there to bung the holes up that are used to remove the sand used during making the cast. It's just a bonus that they blow before the block cracks;)

    The longer it is left the more chance of damage.[:^(]
     
  14. RobC Forum Member

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    Update. Woke up this morning to find it under 4 inches of snow. Got it recovered to parents (that was interesting), sat it in the sun for 10 minutes, gritted teeth and turned the key and it lives! Started and ran fine. So it's now sitting in the garage with a heater under it for the next hour or so, then heading down to garage to get it checked out and SOME ANTIFREEZE IN! Was going to ask them to do a pressure test on the cooling system - anything else I should be asking them to do?

    Thanks for all the suggestions by the way, fingers crossed I may have got away with it this time....
     
  15. Supercharged Forum Member

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    I would get it flushed with the VW orange stuff if you can as I would expect there to be some rust if it was just running on water... then get it properly filled with G12++ and destilled water and you will have to see how it goes....

    I'll be amazed if it's not done any damage at all tbh...
     
  16. RobC Forum Member

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    Yep, looks like water pump has gone as well. Hoping that's it, should be fixed by tomorrow :thumbup:
     
  17. Doddsy Forum Member

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    The other day a simliar thing happened to me. I always have the oil temp on the MFA as soon as I've started it. Got about 1K down the road and I noticed the oil temp soaring - went up to 135, climbed the last 10 while waiting at a light to get to a suitable place to pull over. I figured that it had frozen imediately as it was about -7C but I had G12, albeit slightly overdiluted with normal water but antifreeze none the less.
    Anyway I waited about 5 mins then started it again and it worked fine. It must have frozen the water pump initially as it was making a slapping noise on start up which I put down to a pesky tappet....
    I've done about 200 miles since and it's fine.
     
  18. Mike_H Forum Addict

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    Why do you need a garage? If it's not leaking out once the car is warmed up a bit, and there's no signs of internal leaks (mayo), it's fine.

    Just get some anti-freeze in it, and don't give a garage the opportunity to take you for a ride.
     
  19. TheSecondComing Forum Addict

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    Well the garage filled it with water - why shouldn't they fork out for new antifreeze?
     
  20. Matt82

    Matt82 Forum Addict

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    theyfooked it up royally to start with. would you bother going back?
     

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