Anyone had a frozen cooling system?

[motorbreath]

Hello all, as the title reads...

I purchased a new car last week, its been sat on the drive since I then undergoing some TLC. I popped the bonnet today to find the hoses rock hard full of ice. I'm assuming the prior owner had a fundamental breakdown understanding the meaning of anti freeze.

Anyhow I've removed the ice from the pipes radiator and thermostat but have a horrible feeling that the water in the block is in a similar state.

Tomorrow I'll trying to thaw the engine out, I've filled it up as much as possible with neat antifreeze which will hopefully work its magic over night but I'm a bit stumped as to what methods I should pursue to defrost the engine.

Initial thoughts... bear with me... a disposable bbq (once flames have died down) under sump but far enough away so it wont melt any thing.

Any one else have any thoughts?? Many thanks

[thinfourth2]

How is the water pump driven?

If its driven by the cambelt your stuffed

If its driven by the fan belt (yes i know they don't drive the fan anymore) then i'd be half tempted to give it a quick run

Or shove a fan heater pointing at the block, or an electric blanket over the engine

[rallycross]

Leave it alone until it thaws out and see what, if anything, popped.

In the old days of iron blocks and basic engineering the core plug would pop out before anything got damaged.

[eltax91]

Is it needed asap? I'd be tempted to wait until its above freezing for a day or two. That way you know its thawed

[steveo3002]

small fan heater near it would be my choice

[sgtbash]

motorbreath said:

Hello all, as the title reads...

I purchased a new car last week, its been sat on the drive since I then undergoing some TLC. I popped the bonnet today to find the hoses rock hard full of ice. I'm assuming the prior owner had a fundamental breakdown understanding the meaning of anti freeze.

Anyhow I've removed the ice from the pipes radiator and thermostat but have a horrible feeling that the water in the block is in a similar state.

Tomorrow I'll trying to thaw the engine out, I've filled it up as much as possible with neat antifreeze which will hopefully work its magic over night but I'm a bit stumped as to what methods I should pursue to defrost the engine.

Initial thoughts... bear with me... a disposable bbq (once flames have died down) under sump but far enough away so it wont melt any thing.

Any one else have any thoughts?? Many thanks

I personally would leave it to thaw out naturally, no point rushing things and break it. But I have never had that problem myself.

[Pothole]

Do NOT use the bbq.

[Mr2Mike]

Drain cooling system then refill with warm (not hot - danger of cracking things otherwise) coolant to melt the rest of the ice. Fingers crossed the block and head are still intact. In fact just running a hose through the system for a while should do the trick - the only snag being the large pool of water on the ground that you'll break you leg on when it turns into a sheet of ice.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Monday 21st January 20:22

[Jakg]

thinfourth2 said:

Or shove a fan heater pointing at the block, or an electric blanket over the engine

Had exactly the same happen to a friend...



Their solution?



Apparently worked tho

[redtwin]

First thought would be a fan heater, but the disposable BBQ idea sounds a good one. Could also try filling the hoses/radiator with boiling water,repeating when water cools. Of course you would drain the water if leaving overnight.

[redstu]

steveo3002 said:

small fan heater near it would be my choice

I'd go with this. It might actually be ok currently, but if the weather stays cold or gets worse then it may crack.
It's possible that the radiator has already been split as that is the weakest point.
Nasty job to.be done in this weather. Hope it works out cheaply.

[williredale]

redtwin said:

First thought would be a fan heater, but the disposable BBQ idea sounds a good one. Could also try filling the hoses/radiator with boiling water,repeating when water cools. Of course you would drain the water if leaving overnight.

Don't do this! If the previous owner has neglected the anti-freeze who knows what else has been missed. Fire is not the way to find this out!

Fan heater would be my answer if it can't be left to thaw of its own accord.

[Puntosteve]

Could even try a hair dryer to get up closer to the ice?

[motorbreath]

thinfourth2 said:

How is the water pump driven?

If its driven by the cambelt your stuffed

If its driven by the fan belt (yes i know they don't drive the fan anymore) then i'd be half tempted to give it a quick run

Or shove a fan heater pointing at the block, or an electric blanket over the engine

The water pump is cambelt unfortunately. Didn't turn the engine over due to this so hoping a good thaw will do the job.

I did think electric blankets but didn't think the heat would penetrate into the block. Worth a shot though!

[motorbreath]

rallycross said:

Leave it alone until it thaws out and see what, if anything, popped.

In the old days of iron blocks and basic engineering the core plug would pop out before anything got damaged.

Yeah good point, I checked the core plugs and they are still in place. I've got an MOT on Thursday, its looking thin on the ground that it'll happen as we are still under snow here

[motorbreath]

Jakg said:

Had exactly the same happen to a friend...



Their solution?



Apparently worked tho

That's the one! I'm starting to come around to the fan heater idea maybe one on top and one under the sump. In fact it'll probably be wise to run warm antifreeze through at the same time.

[thinfourth2]

motorbreath said:

I did think electric blankets but didn't think the heat would penetrate into the block. Worth a shot though!

Ah thats where your wrong

When we moved into this house the house waterpump (for drinking water) for thoughtfully mounted on a lump of plywood under a wooden box at the side of the drive. not being the most ideal solution for northern scotland you won't be surprised this froze up during our first winter here.

I bought a nice electric blanket from Asda and wrapped it around the water pump which is a similar size to a motorbike engine and made from cast orn and it thawed out and stayed above freezing until i could build a proper water pump shed

[BFG TERRANO]

If the block has frozen the core plugs may pop out if frozen hard enough.

I'd go with the fan heater, idealy in a garage if you can as a first to look for leaks as it thaws. As previously said, if its not a cam belt water pump fire it up and watch closely. If It's all good dump the coolant, drain and re fill.

[motorbreath]

Just to let you all know I went with the bbq idea on the basis that my electric heater was way too big to fit under the car and I liked the idea of saving the electricity bill

Here's how things went...

Unfortunately the bbq also wouldn't fit under the car due to some stupid back and sides being too high so I 'borrowed' the other halfs deep roasting tin, accessorised it by adding some breather holes in the bottom using a nail and hammer, filled it up with charcoal, attacked it with a blow torch and hey presto after 45 minutes it was ready to go









The heat wasn't too intense so I shoved it under the sump which I was hoping would warm the oil which would retain its warmth for a little longer. Luckily the heat went up the back, in between the radiator and front of the block after an hour the engine was nice and warm.

So an hour later and after adding some more anti freeze I decided to fire it up... Weyhey!! sprung straight into life

Edited by motorbreath on Tuesday 22 January 18:06

[BFG TERRANO]

No burgers or hot dogs?


Let down.