If I drain the anti-freeze and it is below freezing, will the block crack?

[Pokageek]

I am putting heads on the car on Saturday and was going to prep the car tonight or tomorrow. This means draining the oil and anti-freeze. If I drain the antifreeze and it goes below freezing for 2 nights, can that crack a block?

Secondly, is it ok to change over to synthetic during the head change-over or should I run regular oil in it for a while first? Thanks experts!

 

[95cobradude]

synthetic will be fine and i dont think you'll have a problemwith the block cracking. is it gonna get that cold by u 2nite? where do u live, the north pole? just kidding. u should be fine but what u could do to b safe is when u start the job u can start doing other **** while the coolant is draining such as take off the upper intake, valve covers, distributor, things like that.

 

[HISSIN50]

Why would the block crack? That phenomenon occurs when the stoichiometry is slanted toward too much water in the system (too low of a boiling point). The water expands once it freezes, and that is where the issue is. With the system empty, I cant foresee any sort of issue.

Good luck.

 

[95COBRA241]

Why would the block crack? That phenomenon occurs when the stoichiometry is slanted toward too much water in the system (too low of a boiling point). The water expands once it freezes, and that is where the issue is. With the system empty, I cant foresee any sort of issue.

Good luck.

Hissin your on point as you always are.

Liquids as expand as they convert to solids. Water in the block will expand as it freezes causing the block to possibly crack. Since the block is drained there is thus no liquid to expand.

 

[mo_dingo]

Hissin your on point as you always are.

Liquids as expand as they convert to solids. Water in the block will expand as it freezes causing the block to possibly crack. Since the block is drained there is thus no liquid to expand.

Water is the only liquid that expands when it freezes, and that is because it gets air pockets inside it, as seen inside ice. Just for your info.

But you're right on...no liquid, no expand, no cracked block/heads/intake.
Scott

 

[DarkProphet]

Yeah, water is the only liquid to expand upon freezing. Most contract. You will be fine by taking the antifreeze out. The only reason it would crack if you were to refill it with just water, or not a small amout of antifreeze and alot of water. Basically, you will be fine.

 

[95COBRA241]

Yeah, water is the only liquid to expand upon freezing. Most contract. You will be fine by taking the antifreeze out. The only reason it would crack if you were to refill it with just water, or not a small amout of antifreeze and alot of water. Basically, you will be fine.

That is true. I guess I should have been more specific but we were talking about his block. Water or water based solutions expand when they freeze. Other liquids contract when cooled and expand when heated.

 

[Pokageek]

Thanks guys. Reason I got that impression was because I remember when I was a kid a neighbor had this problem with a van. I thought it was bec they drained the anti-freeze but it was probably like you all said..They probably had a rediculous amount of water in the van as upposed to AF.

 

[BlackVert]

agreed, but:

why is it that they have to heat diesel blocks in the winter to keep them from cracking? or do they heat them for another reason?

 

[Nagash01WS6]

You have to let the entire block warm up in the winter before you go driving around in it because it distorts as it heats up.

 

[DarkProphet]

diesels run on a glow plug idea, not spark plugs and when their cold they run like ass. By keeping the block hot, they run good right from the get go.

 

[Pokageek]

Yes. I had an old diesel and it was great because when the block is heated up, you get instant heat even when the car has not been running. (used to plug it into a timer night b4)

 

[HISSIN50]

Correct on the heat needed for glow plug process to work.

If you want to keep your block nice and toasty too, you can install a block warmer (we used them in Alaska).

 

[fiveo'cobra]

When you rebuild, its a known fact to run non-synthetic oil. When its nice and thick it will pick up any debree and send it to the oil filter. Its not NECESSARY, but its smart. When i redid my motor (heads, port work, cam, etc) i used non-synthetic and then 800 miles later i changed the oil back to synthetic and put in new plugs again.

 

[Blackened302]

Why would the block crack? That phenomenon occurs when the stoichiometry is slanted toward too much water in the system (too low of a boiling point). The water expands once it freezes, and that is where the issue is. With the system empty, I cant foresee any sort of issue.

Good luck.

man, havn't heard that word since i was a soph in high school. not much chem in college bio.

 

[Nagash01WS6]

diesels run on a glow plug idea, not spark plugs and when their cold they run like ass. By keeping the block hot, they run good right from the get go.

I dont think the new Cummins diesels have glow plugs. They have a heating element in the intake tract to heat the air.

Diesels allow high compression to trigger the combustion of fuel, which is what we fight to keep from happening (preignition).

 

[HISSIN50]

man, havn't heard that word since i was a soph in high school. not much chem in college bio.

Glad I could bring back some fond memories.

 

[mo_dingo]

Correct on the heat needed for glow plug process to work.

If you want to keep your block nice and toasty too, you can install a block warmer (we used them in Alaska).

Yeah, all the diesels at my work are like that. They all have block heaters that run off of 120V.

Some diesels don't even have glo plugs, and simply use the compression ratio to force the mixture to combust, which in the mustang world is called pinging.
Scott