Green ice under my car. can't be good

[TURBOPOWERED68]

If you're lucky, the heater control valve froze and pissed on the floor a little.

No heater control valve
No straight line to the floor from the hoses or connections
Nothing wet on the top side in the compartment.
Not looking good.

 

[blackgn1]

This makes me want to get dressed and go to the garage and recheck my cars.

 

[novaderrik]

there are a lot of places for coolant to come out if it starts to slush up and expands... don't be getting all worked up and thinking it's the end of the world until you know that it's the end of the world...
and get an antifreeze tester- they are cheap.. i have a Prestone one that i got at Wal Mart about a decade ago for a few bucks.

i just had to deal with slushy antifreeze on friday- my 87 GMC truck had slightly slushy coolant in it, so i decided to start it up to thaw it out... the windchill from driving down the road froze up the radiator and i overheated it really, really bad really, really fast- the temp gauge was pegged at 260 degrees within a mile of leaving the driveway, so i turned around and brought it home... popped the hood and there was steam coming out of everywhere that a hose was hooked to anything and the coolant all boiled out... i replaced the coolant with a 50/50 mix, plus a little extra antifreeze to be sure and it checked out at -40 degrees with my tester after it ran a bit to mix it all up .. went for a drive and it held pressure without any signs of leakage, and it seems to run a little better than it did before... i'll try it again tomorrow night when the ambient air temp is in the -30 range...

 

[HighMileage]

If you think you have a cracked block,don't run it without first pulling the dipstick out. The block may be ruined,but why run a coolant/oil mix thru the internals? See if there is coolant in the crankcase.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

If you think you have a cracked block,don't run it without first pulling the dipstick out. The block may be ruined,but why run a coolant/oil mix thru the internals? See if there is coolant in the crankcase.

Forgot to say that I did check the oil and its clean. The block can be cracked on the outside by the water passages.
I keep focusing on the block but it can also be a head.
Do these heads have freeze-out plugs on the back and front ends?

 

[20psiofevil]

Mine had a spot near the radiator. After I started it up and thawed everything it was all good. No leaks. Just kept an eye on the oil coming through the pushrods through the oil fill cap. Also pull dipstick a few times to check viscocity by touch and for milk shake.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Mine had a spot near the radiator. After I started it up and thawed everything it was all good. No leaks. Just kept an eye on the oil coming through the pushrods through the oil fill cap. Also pull dipstick a few times to check viscocity by touch and for milk shake.

I checked the breathers and pulled the dipstick several times while it was running last night and the oil looked good.
The freaking thing didn't even leak again even after it was hot and the fan cycled a bunch of times. I am going to try and lift the car and take a look today.

 

[Heisenberg]

O
I then turned the car off and drained about a Gal and a half of what ever is in there and filled it with a Gal of pure antifreeze then topped it off with the junk that i just drained.

I understand the sense of urgency to increase the ratio of Ethylene Glocol vs Water; but after a certain point, you actually have a higher freezing point - not a lower one.
Although that point is about 70% - so I'm guessing most have at least 30% water in the mix.
For winter time - 50/50 is all you really need
The easiest way is to simply ditch the stuff you drain, (offer it as a nice winter treat to any of the cats in the neighborhood); and with 2 jugs of new anti freeze, mix it at a 50/50 ratio.

 

[Heisenberg]

No heater control valve
No straight line to the floor from the hoses or connections
Nothing wet on the top side in the compartment.
Not looking good.

Once you get things settled down, you can do a simple pressure test with a Horrible Freight coolant system pressure test kit.
Cheap tool

 

[HighMileage]

This might sound strange,but extreme temps can have effects on connections. One thing might contract more than something else that it is connected to.

Possible coolant leak from an intake gasket? Maybe running down the back of the block?

I think you are ok if you warned it up and created pressure,and nothing leaked. There might be a very small leak that has gone unnoticed until the expansion/contraction due to very cold temps set in.

It had to have been liquid in order to drip on the floor. Maybe the floor is colder. ..a draft across the floor??


I know you had me paranoid,so I checked mine. Hasn't been driven in weeks. Temps down to -12'F a few nights.

I run a 60 coolant/40 water mix. I use the old style "conventional green" old-style coolant from Zerex.

No slush here..

 

[HighMileage]

Here's another example: I've got aluminum wheels on all of my other cars. Some of those wheels/tires have very slow leaks. It's the beads. No matter how much cleaning and bead sealer..

But when it gets REALLY cold,they leak faster. Maybe that is the situation you are facing?

 

[qws2000]

I have a few pennies invested in this motor, by means nothing like most people on this forum, but hearing Davids story scared me... If I look in the radiator and there is no slush Im good?????

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Al your best bet is to test it with a tester like what Derrick posted up.

My Dad has a quality tester (to pressurize the cooling system) i am going to borrow that and play with it and see what i find.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

I understand the sense of urgency to increase the ratio of Ethylene Glocol vs Water; but after a certain point, you actually have a higher freezing point - not a lower one.
Although that point is about 70% - so I'm guessing most have at least 30% water in the mix.
For winter time - 50/50 is all you really need
The easiest way is to simply ditch the stuff you drain, (offer it as a nice winter treat to any of the cats in the neighborhood); and with 2 jugs of new anti freeze, mix it at a 50/50 ratio.

Thanks for the info I had no clue.

 

[John Larkin]

Get a little bottle of dye and a blacklight. Run the car to cycle the dye in, then pressurize the system, get underneath and start looking for the green glow. I been doing this alot lately myself on another car.

 

[Emiliano Lago]

Once you get things settled down, you can do a simple pressure test with a Horrible Freight coolant system pressure test kit.
Cheap tool

like Heisenberg said hook up a pressure tester on the radiator ,pump it up and look at the gauge for loosing pressure at the same time when it is pressurized it will be easy to find that leak it will be pissing out big time.Make shore you don't go above the pressure requirement which is marked on the readiator cap.Good luck....

 

[Heisenberg]

Al your best bet is to test it with a tester like what Derrick posted up.

My Dad has a quality tester (to pressurize the cooling system) i am going to borrow that and play with it and see what i find.

If I am not mistaken, the hydrometers are temperature sensitive, that is, specific gravity changes with temperature.
Check the directions.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

If I am not mistaken, the hydrometers are temperature sensitive, that is, specific gravity changes with temperature.
Check the directions.

This is the one I use


I just drained another 2 gal. And finally got it to -44*

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Ok I just let car run for about an hour
This time I let the temp come up to 198/199 a bunch of times. The radiator hose even hardened up with pressure and still no leak.
During the week I'll pick up my Dads tester and see whats going on.
But as of now its all good

 

[Heisenberg]

Ok a just let car run for about an hour
This time I let the temp come up to 198/199 a bunch of times. The radiator hose even hardened up with pressure and still no leak.
During the week I'll pick up my Dads tester and see whats going on.
But as of now its all good

Strange.
But fingers crossed.
Maybe it is actually nothin' - which is amazing - because with these cars - it's always somethin' !