...Frozen Radiator

[PhantomS14]

..Yeah, i know, this is dumb and could have been prevented. :duh:

Anyway, i bought the car back in June when it was still warm so, it had never crossed my mind this would happen.

Basically, my GF went to take my car to the store and it wouldn't crank so, i checked it and the radiator is froze. ...What would you all suggest to do with this and could there be any damage done to it?

[mikez97]

well some anti-freeze would have helped lol

[soon2bs13]

wait till june for it to warm up again.

i have never heard of anyone having a frozen radiator. TN is not that cold.

[PhantomS14]

wait till june for it to warm up again.
i have never heard of anyone having a frozen radiator. TN is not that cold.


Well it does happen when something like adding anti-freeze tends to "slip your mind" and it's obviously cold enough in TN to make water freeze. :rolleyes:

I need post's that help.

[mikez97]

:ugh:my radiator never freezes

[jrmiller84]

:ugh:my radiator never freezes

Nothing freezes in Florida, ever.

[PhantomS14]

Anyway....

It seems to be going well, with the combination of a heater, lamp and blow dryer.

The radiator and hoses are "defrosted" and drained. ..Next is the block and heater hoses

I'm just happy nothing appears to be damaged.. i'm sure i'll have to replace the thermostat but, that's no big deal.

I guess i should've changed the coolant when i bought it, oh well.

[codunc]

That's really dangerous. when water freezes it expands and it can crack heads/blocks pretty easily

[PhantomS14]

That's really dangerous. when water freezes it expands and it can crack heads/blocks pretty easily

Yeah, that's what i was mainly worried about.

The water rushed out of the block fairly quick so, i don't think it froze to the point of cracking it. ..at least i hope not :-/

All i can do for now is be optimistic.. I'm done for the night so, hopefully i'll get it all sorted out tomorrow. ..I'll update the thread on how it turns out

[S14DB]

Why wouldn't it crank if the radiator was frozen?

[codunc]

Why wouldn't it crank if the radiator was frozen?
just a guess but, if the water pump were full of ice it would be enough to keep it from cranking

[S14DB]

just a guess but, if the water pump were full of ice it would be enough to keep it from cranking

Then the block would be frozen.

[PhantomS14]

MEH.. I didn't get around to working on this 'till around 9PM.

Car ran fine and didn't overheat by the temp gauge but, the lower rad hose never got hot so.. i guess i'm going to need a thermostat.

..In the process of things i managed to put a hole in the "heater cock". (lulz) ..What can i say, i thought i was on the lip of it but, i guess not. ..Luckily it wasn't too bad and the hose covered it fine. Speaking of the hose, that thing was a bitch to take off.

[Bigsyke]

Its not really cracking of the block I would be worried about, its warping.

Best practice is to use only 50/50 honda Type II and leave it.

Get a nismo thermo, remove the AC and put a tiny drop of dawn in the coolant. Should be enough in any climate.

[!Zar!]

Why weren't you running antifreeze in the first place?

[S14DB]

Why weren't you running antifreeze in the first place?
Cause rusting out blocks from the inside is kool, duh.

[PhantomS14]

Why weren't you running antifreeze in the first place?


Read the thread, The previous owner ran straight water. ..I bought the car when it was warm so, i didn't bother with changing it. ..Month's down the road i forgot to change it, weather changed, cold, froze.

Cause rusting out blocks from the inside is kool, duh.

Wow, guy.. what is your problem? ..I mean seriously, do you make it a point to go around, wasting your time, pecking your keys to make dumb ass remarks. ..Come on now :rolleyes:


Its not really cracking of the block I would be worried about, its warping.

Best practice is to use only 50/50 honda Type II and leave it.

Get a nismo thermo, remove the AC and put a tiny drop of dawn in the coolant. Should be enough in any climate.

Thanks for the post/Help

[!Zar!]

s14db speaks the truth.

It's not worth it to run straight tap water.

I live in california. My car has never seen snow in it's life and I still run antifreeze.

Don't buy a nismo thermostat.

It's useless for what you need.

[atutt]

ok... why the drop of Dawn?

[!Zar!]

You can also put a raw egg in your radiator.

Go on.

I know you want to.

[PhantomS14]

lol.... Okay, i'm not completely dumb when it comes to doing maintenance, after all my MOS is 63B, which is a diesel mechanic for the Army. I work on anything from the detroit diesel to CAT engines. ..Yeah, big surprise huh.. and i managed to forget about that antifreeze, darn. ...anyway

I created this thread in hopes that someone had this happen to them before, perhaps could give suggestions on the best way to "defrost" it... I guess you zilvians are to good for that though.

Maybe i'm to serious for this forum

[!Zar!]

Trying to prove yourself to me means nothing.

Go to an auto parts store and buy an engine block heater.

If you are too lazy to do that, take a heat gun/hair drier to the water pump.

If you are too lazy to do that, put the car in the garage and put some blankets over it or something.

Just hope your freeze plugs didn't move out of place.

[PhantomS14]

Naa, don't get me wrong. ..I didn't mean that i know everything, and i can always learn something new. I'll be the first to admit that.

I appreciate the suggestions, but i already fixed this and the car is fine. (read thread) :D