Deep Freeze

[blkwarrior]

Well we have been under a freeze for the last few days. Last night however was the crowning event 19* at my house. Being concerned about the house and other issues I totally forgot about my waggy . For the past few months I have been wanting to get the motor flushed. Because of this I have not put any anti freeze/ coolant in it. So I just went out to take a look and possibly drive it but only to find all the hoses solid as a rock.

Am I in for an expensive ordeal or can I just let it thaw out? Any recomendations, or is it toast?

[fulsizjeep]

Ouch. Did this with an old Rambler when I lived in Florida. It got down in the teens for 3 days and the radiator self destructed. Hope that is not the case for you.

Wait and thaw. Start and warm motor. Look for leaks around heater, radiator and all hoses.

[blkwarrior]

Thanks Flint, I am hoping for the best.
I did pull the upper radiator hose and then poured some antifreeze to top off the radiator (about 1/2 gl). I will try and warm it up before the next freeze tonight.

[fulsizjeep]

Kick mama's car out of the garage before sunset.

Good luck!

[serehill]

well

If you have some kind of heater to stick it safely under the hood I would. If it isn't hurt yet then you may be good.

[Retro93]

If the radiator and block are frozen solid the last thing you want to do is start the engine. If no coolant is moving you will rapidly go to an overheat situation, with little to none of the heat being transferred to the radiator. As mention above, get a source of alternate heat in there to slowly thaw things out.

Good luck!

[alwomac]

Make sure it is completely thawed before you start it. If it is frozen in the water pump when you start the motor you will get a big surprise. I know it first hand from a BB Chevy. My chevy only pushed a couple of freeze plugs out and no other issues other than all the trashed belts and water pump from starting it frozen. It is usually REALLY hard to get freeze plugs in a motor while in the vehicle. Napa carries some that are rubber with a nut and washer. You tighten the nut and it expands to fill the hole. Worked great with no issues and you could drain the block with it before removing the water pump.

[tgreese]

The "freeze plugs" are not for freezing, but so they can get the casting sand out of the block after it's cast. "Expansion plug" is a misnomer too. So they are more properly called "core plugs." That they pop out when the block freezes is just coincidental.

The rubber core plugs are a Dorman item: http://dormanproducts.com/gsearch.as...xpansion+plugs

I'd get a space heater or electric blanket or something on that engine to try and melt the coolant before I did anything with it. If if freezes hard, it will split the block - the "freeze plugs" won't stop that. You'll end up with scrap metal. Act now.

[Dirtfarmer]

19 degrees thats a heat wave, Hah! it was 3 here yesterday morning. That being said, I doubt it did any serious damage to the block, heads etc. but if your radiator froze solid that may be an issue. warm it up somehow where it sits. and see what leaks where

[Pair O 79 J10]

Pull the belt..

off of the water pump if it is frozen to the point where it won't turn. Start the engine run it for a few minutes, shut it down let it sit for about ten minutes, do the procedure again, and again and again until the water in the hoses and radiator thaw . Used this procedure with my Wagoneer in Wasilla Alaska when I to forgot about having only water in it after a repair I did in the summer. It worked fine no core plugs lost no leaks, just don't over run it or steam will form and that's not good!......good luck..

[tgreese]

off of the water pump if it is frozen to the point where it won't turn. Start the engine run it for a few minutes, shut it down let it sit for about ten minutes, do the procedure again, and again and again until the water in the hoses and radiator thaw . Used this procedure with my Wagoneer in Wasilla Alaska when I to forgot about having only water in it after a repair I did in the summer. It worked fine no core plugs lost no leaks, just don't over run it or steam will form and that's not good!......good luck..

I'd remove or loosen the belts if I was going to try this ... don't try to drive the water pump.

Seems like it should work though.

[FSJunkie]

Ha! I bet most of you wouldn't believe me if I said the high here yesterday was 17. Meanwhile, the high in Antarctica that same day was 25. This is all Farenhieght.

The low has been about -7 for the last week. We were excited for it to get above freezing for a few hours today.

[tgreese]

Ha! I bet most of you wouldn't believe me if I said the high here yesterday was 17. Meanwhile, the high in Antarctica that same day was 25. This is all Farenhieght.

The low has been about -7 for the last week. We were excited for it to get above freezing for a few hours today.

Flagstaff is at what, 6000 ft? Doesn't surprise me at all. The Southwest is in the middle of a cold snap. Not a lot of precip there though.

It gets cold here too, but the weather varies. Snow, then melt. Repeat. It was 37F mid-day here ... not cold at all for this time of year.

NE is serious cold, I hear. Ever seen "Fargo?"

[budojeepr]

We had -30 (yes) at Bogard Station just south of Redding last week.

I used to put a trouble light (incandescent) under the hood. It was enough to let me start the car in the morning...

[MonsterZ]

Still sitting up here in Fairbanks and we've seen it all the way down to -50 degrees this winter, though right now we are at freezing which has made the roads a complete disaster. You should be able to pick up a couple of block heaters from a parts store for cheap. There are several kind, I'm kinda partial to the magnet type, though the ones that glue on work well also. Up here we usually place one on the block, one on the tranny pan, and one inside a battery box, then run the cords to a junction or powerstrip, zip tie the whole mess down nice and clean like, then run a blue (arctic rated) extension cord to a power outlet. Give it an hour or so and you should be just fine. Oh, and ammo cans work well for battery boxes. You should be just fine as long as your hoses were tight before you froze. The big problem up here is actually the pressure line on the power steering blowing out. Cold fluid and pumps and frozen lines trying to work under pressure, something's gotta give, and usually it's one of the crimped fittings. Good luck!