Frozen coolant

[charlescho]

Lol, you can find a friend of a friend every 2 years, and take care of that smog check ;)

Sorry to see you guys dealing with that much cold though.

maybe find a friend of a friend that can keep you warm? ;D

[Eddie Lives On]

Move to Atlantic Canada... Gotta love -40F

[AndrewBird]

Small update: I reconnected the hoses and added a bunch of coolant and a some distilled water so the mixture is probably around 60/40 coolant heavy. No leakage anywhere. Should I now drain everything for the rest of the winter or leave it as is with more coolant now?

I also have a 60watt bulb on under the engine for the night and until temps get to 20F+

More coolant won't hurt anything, it can just be less effective at cooling. Come summer, if you have overheating problems, it could be due to too much coolant.

Buy one of these and test it though. They are seriously under $5.

[jeffnhiscars]

50/50 is good to -34 and although 60/40 will go a little colder it does not cool as well. Regardless, it all turns to slush at it's rated temp and will eventually turn solid if it goes much below that.

In short, if its not the right mix for your climate you need drain the entire system and either leave it empty or refill it properly or risk a cracked block. A light bulb will actually help especially if its out of the wind.

[pmat]

Mine froze too. No leaks yet, but the heater core hasnt thawed yet either:?

[meengreene30]

Just checked mine so far so good. We're at -14 with the wind right now.

[E30 Wagen]

Just got a new e30 and stupid me forgot to check the condition of the coolant before driving it this winter... Turns out it was basically rusty water:



This was quite problematic when it froze inside the radiator and caused my eta to drastically overheat in -10* temperatures. I feel like I came close to serious frostbite because I wasn't getting any heat inside either, and being forced to shut off the engine left me stranded in some very extreme cold with no gloves or a hat.

Should have just bought that Infinity G20...

[ReallyDirtyThirty]

They also used to only run straight weight oils with no detergents. Stories of my grandfather having to drain the oil and coolant every night when parking the Hudson, bring it inside to keep it warm, and refill the next day are pretty abundant in my family.

That's awesome. Back when men were men!! I'll bet after he brought the tub of oil inside he downed half a bottle of a Cutty Sark, smoked a pipe (tobacco), and called it a night. Sounds like Gpa was a badass.

[Todd Black 88]

Why only half a bottle? You calling his gpa a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles?

[blunttech]

My e12 sat out 3 days in this crap (somewhere around 28 below) and fired right up. What a beast.

[TurboJake]

That's awesome. Back when men were men!! I'll bet after he brought the tub of oil inside he downed half a bottle of a Cutty Sark, smoked a pipe (tobacco), and called it a night. Sounds like Gpa was a badass.

Oh no no no. He'd down a case of chest hair inducing Blatz. He was very talented too. One memorable mention, when I was about 10, he was building some countertops in his house. Holds his hands out, looks at them, nods and says okay. We walk a good 100 yards to the workshed, grabs a board and puts it on the radial arm saw, he holds out his hands, looks at it, nods and says "Yep, that's about right".

Walks inside the house with the newly cut countertop board and it fits in perfect. Not even an 1/8" gap.

To this day, I still firmly believe that it wasn't luck. He'd do things like that all the time.

[Mr_Tripp]

Should have just bought that Infinity G20...

Lol the things we go through for old bimmers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[delatlanta1281]

My e12 sat out 3 days in this crap (somewhere around 28 below) and fired right up. What a beast.

Yes! I'm going to go start my e12 right now and drive around the neighborhood blasting songs from the sound of music!
Wait... Different motor. Screw it who cares.