Mrsluggan

Hello everyone,

I had a troubling experience today while checking my car in winter storage. Upon inspecting the coolant reservoir, I observed that the coolant had turned into slush, only on top of the coolent. like a layer, rest of the coolent was clear.

My concern and question is: How severe is the potential impact on my engine and radiator?

it is was about -18 c / -0.4 f that night
engine 350 tpi
Trans am 1988

8t2 z-chev

i'd say no concern at all with just some slush,but if antifreeze protection level is unknown,you should check it and adjust as needed . is the coolant seen under the radiator cap nicely green? (presuming you are using ":green" coolant antifreeze over there.

Komet

I would guess the car is still ok if it's just slush, but I think you should replace the coolant with fresh stuff that's properly mixed.

72buickgs

Replace that old antifreeze asap. Too much water in the solution now. And change the thermostat at same time.

dlinger

iTrader: (4)

I had that happen in my Nova one year. I had just added water after a repair on something and then forgot to re-drain and fill with proper mixture. Remembered it when it got below zero. I had slush in radiator. It was fine, but temperature warmed up some so I could drain and re-fill it.

Mrsluggan

I'm a real idiot... i decided to wait for warmer weather to empty my car, and of course, a sudden cold snap hit, bringing outdoor temperatures down to -25 degrees Celsius. When I went to check on my car, I discovered that every coolant line and the radiators were completely frozen. I couldn't find any freeze plugs or stains on the ground.
Now, i guess my engine is fu****. i havent tried to start it yet, so i really dont know the damage yet, but i have a feelin she won't make it this winter ; (
The only thing brining me hope is that the Ice in the radiator was easy to brake, it was not hard as stone. Maybe the tiny amount of antifreeze may save her.

should I attempt to salvage it or sell the car for parts and invest in a new one?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

:smh:

Wait until the weather warms up. See if anything broke. That's all you can do at this point.

Keep in mind though, that in a small block Chevy engine, the place where the block is most likely to break from freezing, is the top of the water jackets, right above the lifters, underneath the intake manifold. Very much internal to the engine. Meaning, your block could be COMPLETELY destroyed, but you can't see it. Instead it will leak coolant into the oil, which the antifreeze (if any) will IMMEDIATELY turn the oil into some kind of powdery sludge that doesn't lubricate.

You could try starting it, and letting it warm up fully to the point that hot water circulates in the radiator, and check for ANY sign of coolant leaking into the crankcase such as from the above-described cracking while the engine is running (pop the oil fill cap off and see if steam comes out for example). If the engine gets hot (temp gauge gets over halfway) and water isn't circulating in the radiator, then shut it off IMMEDIATELY: the system is blocked with ice somewhere, and it will RAPIDLY SEVERELY overheat and boil inside the block, maybe burst hoses and that sort of thing. Not good. If it's already leaking anywhere then it's too late. Nothing you can do now will heal (un-break) the metal. If it's OK, then drain a gallon or so of whatever is in there now, and refill it with PURE antifreeze (NOT the 50/50 mixture you see alot in stores these days), the green type, NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES the pink or orange type.

I hate to be a jerk or anything, but it completely boggles the mind to even contemplate how someone living almost at the Arctic Circle, where the ground is frozen half the year, would neglect to keep a proper coolant mix in their car. That's as basic as keeping it full of oil. When I was living in the southeastern US, where the temp only goes below freezing at all any more than 2 or 3 times a year, and it doesn't go below -4°C more than once every 5 years or more, people would have this same thing happen to their cars or boats, and weep over it as if it couldn't be predicted. I could almost understand them being caught off guard except that it's such a basic feature of car maintenance regardless of the climate (antifreeze also helps against boiling over by raising the boiling point... it's therefore beneficial in hot climates as well as cold because it extends the temp range within which water remains a liquid in both directions). Where you are however, ... oh well, enough scolding. Lesson learned the hard way I guess.

Whatever damage is done, is already done and over with. Messing around with it while it's full of ice is pointless unless you can melt it safely, verify it's undamaged, and install the proper mixture. Best you can do now is, wait for it to thaw, and see what, if any, damage was done. I'm not optimistic, but you might get lucky. In which case, PUT ANTIFREEZE IN IT. It's not yet time to talk about replacing things in any case.

Mrsluggan

You're not being jerk at all. It's my own flawed stupid reasoning that led me to this situation. Where i live in Sweden, we haven't experienced a severe winter in about a decade.
The coldest temperatures reached around -10 degrees Celsius at most. So when I checked my coolant before placing the car in winter storage and saw it could withstand up to -15 degrees, I thought, "It hasn't been that cold in ages." Turns out, I have only myself to blame for this oversight.

Well well, i had thoughts of swapping the engine, this might be sign?