HELP!! - My ride is FROZEN!!

[Devil Inc]

Well I went out this morning to start my car, since it hasn't been driven to incliment weather here in NE Indiana. When I cranked it over it chugged and chugged, it wasn't a normal chug. So I stopped, popped the hood and my coolant hoses are slushy and even frozen in some spots. I checked the weather for this next week and it is getting warmer, but not much to consider thawing out a possibility. I don't have a garage, but my neighbor has a medium sized pole barn that I could possible use to get it out of the weather. Are there any precautions as to how to thaw it out?And what would be the best way to thaw it out? Also, I will be doing the "I" swap with new gaskets and such, so I will be pulling the head.

Hopefully that will make it easier.

[mitch500]

dont suppose you have a block heater do you.? if so plug it in.

[DaveSmed]

Gee, something tells me you aren't running the proper mixture of antifreeze/water.

[BBY1104]

Isnt there a certain kind of coolant that is both good for the car and is never suppose to freeze. Comes already mixed, but it sounds like there is to much water in the and not enough Anti-freeze

[swimstarguy]

I'd look into that. Make sure you have the right mix and the right antifreeze.

A buddy of mine had a Chrysler Cirrus (or whatever it was) and the coolant froze. Apparently, the coolant was only good for 5*. Currently, it's -8 by my house, before windchill.


~Zar4

[DaveSmed]

Are you guys kidding? I hope so.

Plain old green ethylene glycol antifreeze has a freezing point of -30 degrees when mixed properly. If you are that cheap to water it down.... Can't even say the %50 ratio is too hard to figure out anymore, they mix the stuff for you these days!!!!!

[JAM]

Gee, something tells me you aren't running the proper mixture of antifreeze/water.

wrd. not good

[jlevie]

Your best course of action at this point would be to get the engine started and let it run for a few minutes. Then shut it off and wait 10-15 minutes before repeating the short run. Repeat that process until the temp gauge is out of the blue. Watch the engine for any sign of leaking coolant and stop if you see a leak. Those short runs will discharge the battery, so connect a high capacity charger or use a second vehicle as a donor.

Assuming that you do get the engine warmed up without exciting things happening, the next step is to drain the coolant and replace with a 50:50 mix of anti-freeze and water. Note that this means opening the block drain and having the heater set to full hot.

[Devil Inc]

Yes, I guessed that the coolant ratio isn't correct because I've been losing coolant at startup when the engine is cold. I didn't think I had added that much water to the mix. I think the head is cracked or warped, bought it with a blown head gasket. Replaced head gasket cause it was pumping coolant into the two middle cylinders. I did a visual check of the head when I did this, didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So I have a new, used head, new gaskets and such. If I can get it to my neighbors storage barn, I have access to a salamander heater. Would I be safe to start tearing the head off with it still "frosty"?

[evil_twin]

Damn that sucks. That shit happened to my e34. The reason I had water in it was to flush the system out of all the crap thats been sitting in it since 1999. The weather dropped down cold fast, and I ended up paying more... new heater core and radiator.

in the end don't try to save a couple of bucks, and if you are going to clean the system, do it in a few days, not weeks. lol.

[e30jones]

Your best course of action at this point would be to get the engine started and let it run for a few minutes. ...

I would disagree with this, if his coolant is frozen in the rad hoses, there is a good chance that it is frozen around the water pump as well, and could possibly do damage if started. I purchased an 85 318i last winter, apparently the previous owner didn't mix his coolant properly, so in the first week of ownership, I ended up replacing the rad, and putting new o-rings on the heater valve (in the middle of winter in my driveway). I consider myself lucky, as it is possible to crack the block/head when coolant(water) freezes, expands and has nowhere to go.

I ended up thawing my engine completely in about 2 hours, by purchasing two of those crappy mini-heaters from a hardware store and setting them in the engine bay with the hood closed almost all the way. The outside temp was around -10 celcius, and I had defrosted the iced coolant fairly quickly. After it's thawed a bit, I would get that old coolant out of there, drain the rad and block and replace it with properly mixed new stuff.

[scabzzzz]

This kind of happened to me once on my swapped E36 a while ago. Water pump was frozen up and I drove it for a while. Never got any heat and it started to over heat. Opened my radiator catch tank and there was ice floating around in there. I had leaking issues the previous summer so I was putting water in instead of properly mixed anti freeze..

I basically followed the methods that Jlevie just described. It works E30jones.

[e30serg]

If the water's frozen inside the engine, the freeze plugs on the block will pop off-that's what they are there for. Check around both side and rear of your block just in case. The last thing you want to do is start that engine up and have all the coolant come out through the freeze plug holes.
Can you get a heat gun and melt the ice?
Move to a warm state....

[Devil Inc]

e30serg, I agree with you on the move to a warmer state. As for the freeze plugs they appear to be normal. I'll be diving into all of this, this weekend. I don't feel comfortable trying to start the engine with it in this condition, so I think that I might try the heaters under the hood.

[Burning2nd]

why wouldnt you... thats what they are there for... start the engine warm it up... it will become unfrozen fast.... at that point you will know very fast if you blew the plug.... if you did.... G/l if not drain and refill... my beem'rswanson love the cold... we saw a bunch of negtive number this year.... the powersteering does'nt like it but fuck him (the p/s) he can wine all he wants..