Anti-freeze frozen

wiggy

wiggy

wiggy

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Joined
30 Jan 2004
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813
Location
Milton Keynes, Bucks
Hi

Yeah thats right, i went to do the usual water and oil check today, and saw my expansion tank is solid ice. So I left it at home and been pondering what to do. Looks like i will have give it the hairdryer treatment tomorrow, unless anyone has some ideas?

Ps nothing that has fire involved!
 
It won't just be the expansion tank thats frozen it could well be the whole block, check to see if the expansion plugs have popped out.
 
Step brother blew the head gasket driving up the road with his frozen in his saxo of fail. :(
 
Guess it depends on if you had a pure coolant or coolant/water mix.

It is perfectly possible that they have separated and the water has frozen off at the top end of the system, had that happen to the Lolvo last year in the Alps.
 
Stupid question.. but how can you tell if the car has antifreeze in? Just wondering whether it's worth checking/topping up - It's been fine so far.
 
Well I think there ok, but i did notice the pipe from the rad is rock solid also. I would have let it thaw itself but this cold snap looks like its in for a while. But if it turns out to be too much hassle, i might have no choice but to walk to work for a week! :(
 
It was a car i bought in september, been working on other things with it like the exhaust, cambelt, brakes etc. I have never had a frozen expansion tank before. So the person who had it before me, has used the wrong ratio of anti-freeze, if any!
 
If you suspect it's all frozen then wait till it's thoroughly defrosted, otherwise your engine won't like you very much. Then i recommend a flush of the system, or at least a healthy dose of anti freeze.
 
Worst case here is the engine is bricked. The head and/or block could be cracked.

If it's frozen solid it sounds like there is no ant-freeze at all. With insufficient anti-freeze, the coolant usually freezes to a Slush Puppy sort of affair.
 
Happy said:
Stupid question.. but how can you tell if the car has antifreeze in? Just wondering whether it's worth checking/topping up - It's been fine so far.
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the coolant will be coloured if it has an antifreeze in it. probably pink, sometimes blue/orange/green

if the coolant is black/brown then its straight water and its corroding the engine from the inside out and so wants changiing

as for the coolant, you can get a little tester. it sucks up coolant and a gauge tells you the %age of antifreeze in there

30% SHOULD be fine for this country (protects down to -20*c) but weve been seeing colder than that!

50% will protect down to -50*c or so, well overkill for the UK
 
Thx for all the help. Just had a look for any cracks, all is ok and the expansion tank has not completely frozen. I am desperate to get this thawed out but have no access to a garage. I really could murder the previous owner!
 
Last time this happened to me, I got 3 of the small electric fan blower/heaters and placed them in/around the engine, left them for 3 hours, the core plugs where still in place, so I guessed it was only partially frozen at worst.. It turned out OK.. although I was getting worried that 3 1.5 KW heaters on a long extension lead was risking it a bit electrically!
 
^^ I would be more worried about someone tripping over the lead running over the footpath to my car. They would end up suing me lol.
 
I'd say if the expansion tank can be removed, take it indoors and sit it in a sink of hot water. Maybe empty it and refill with 50/50 antifreeze mix to be sure it doesn't freeze up again.
 
markweatherill said:
I'd say if the expansion tank can be removed, take it indoors and sit it in a sink of hot water. Maybe empty it and refill with 50/50 antifreeze mix to be sure it doesn't freeze up again.
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the water in the tank really is the least of his worries. frozen water in his tank wont split his block or kill his water pump.

he needs to properly thaw the entire block. the block has a water jacket that could be frozen
 
My car hasn't moved for the past few days and its been around -8 to -11 round these parts, which is pushing off the shelf summer coolant to the limit.

Went out to check my coolant tank this moring and its fine, its a good job i changed my coolant last year when i upgraded my turbo, went for the expensive non mixed halfords stuff and made a super strong mix at home.
 
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