I'm A Nube Moron..

jcgafford

10 Year Member
Jan 7, 2012
1,114
94
104
Adrian, MI
drained the coolant system to replace water pump gaskets this fall. have not touched car since. forgot that i filled it with plain old water to test for leaks. fast forward to today. went out to finally put stabil in and yeah she is frozen. while heating the garage might be doable i am thinking of draining the radiator and adding hot water and antifreeze in to "thaw" it. I feel like an idiot. Any suggestions? radiator is still water not ice but coolant lines seem frozen. started it before checking and water pump turns fine, temp reading shot right up to high mark so i am sure lines are frozen.
 
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Doesn't sound good but really doesn't sound that bad either. I would be worried about the radiator first since it is most fragile and will rupture first. Short of that if you didn't break the impeller off the water pump or lose a freeze out plug you will more than likely be ok...
 
Side note- It was 18 degrees last night and my car was sitting in an unheated garage. I realized about 10:00pm that the a2w intercooler still had water in it. with the car in so many pieces and no antifreeze on hand I had to take the dash out of my car (it's mounted under the dash) to remove it last night otherwise it could have been ugly. You aren't the only one that forgot about the cold weather sneaking in.
 
I would not try and start anything until you are certain the system is thawed out. stick a heater in the garage. Use a hair dryer and thaw out the radiator, hoses, and under the engine. Then open up the petcock and flush out the system with fresh water.

Another reason why I live in Florida.
 
Side note- It was 18 degrees last night and my car was sitting in an unheated garage. I realized about 10:00pm that the a2w intercooler still had water in it. with the car in so many pieces and no antifreeze on hand I had to take the dash out of my car (it's mounted under the dash) to remove it last night otherwise it could have been ugly. You aren't the only one that forgot about the cold weather sneaking in.
Damn, 18 deg..... I do not miss that. Where are you from?