Hot Rods Adding antifreeze to a non-running car???

Before all that work I'd swing by vato zone and get a tester and just check your anti freeze.

 

all I can say on this subject is that it is good to live in California. I have never touched actual snow, I have never walked on a frozen lake, I could probably count the number of times I have been outside when it was below 40 on one hand and I could run my cars on straight water and never worry about freezing anything.

...everything else sucks, but the weather is nice here I the Bay Area.

 

As somebody said, get an oil dipstick block heater, or, drape some blankets over the engine compartment and put a 100 watt light (or two) under the engine. The blankets will hold in a lot of heat and not use a lot of electricity.

 

Yep that will work. Thanks for all the ideas.

 

X2 on the "Moving blankets" & a 100W bulb underneath the pan: works VERY well (unless it gets cold enough to freeze the light rays coming off the bulb) LOL!!! & a hell of a lot easier/simpler than that 'spin-the-fan'/'HF water-pump' Walt Disney' disaster you're thinking about! Remember: the KISS principle WORKS!!! About that "freezing the light rays coming off the bulb" : Ever been through a Montana winter???

 

I say drain it and fill it with Whiskey. That'll put a spin on how Bourbon get's it's color and taste and it doesn't freeze either.

 

How come you don't test the coolant as was suggested a couple of times?

 

You can get a magnetic block heater at the parts house that will keep the engine from freezing. I have one that I used on ot truck to help it start in low temps.
They also sell block heaters that go in the heater hose that act like a pump and by move the coolant though the engine. Noisy as hell if you are close enough to hear them but they work real well.
A small heater under the front of the car and a tarp over the car that went to the ground or floor all the way around would probably keep it from freezing if you kept the warm air in and the cold air out.

Stock 390 cooling system holds right at 20-1/2 quarts That means you need 2-1/2 gallons of straight antifreeze in it to get it up to the 50/50 range. An antifreeze tester is dirt cheap and any of us who live in cold areas need one anyhow.

What the guys suggested about taking the fan belt off and using the drill to turn the water pump with the belt is probably the simple way and no extra cost way. A pulley on the drill would be nice but you could just pull the chuck up tight against the inside of the belt and go for it and get it circulating enough to get it mixed in the whole system.

 

Wow !
The BS here.

 

You can't fix it ,,

 

my buddies that drag race use a mounted electric motor to run the water pump and cool the engine....more costly then a freeze checker.....

 

Radiator pressure tester. Fill the radiator full. Attach tester. Pump to ten lbs. antifreeze will be pushed thru the system. Let pressure off. Refill radiator. Place pressure tester back in place pump it to ten pounds. Repeat as needed.

 

Just my 2c, but what will a dipstick oil heater do to prevent the water from freezing? Those things are to help keep the oil thin at start up. I doubt it will warm the block at all.

 

I. Can't. Even...

 

I would like to thank all of you for your info. Checking antifreeze is not that easy on a car that does not have good access to the coolant. I would have to crawl through the snow, drain some into a cup and test it. Mathematically speaking if 2 gallons would give a 50/50 mix approximately... then a 1 gallon should give me a 25/75. If 50/50 is -40 then 25/75 should be -20 Approximately. Temp did not drop down below 0 last night but wind-chill is -10 or so. I did add the dipstick oil heater last night. I think it would have to help. The car is covered with a tarp and I banked snow up all around it. Usually we don't have to worry about -20 degree weather till end of January - February...but Mother Nature has been messing with us. I don not own a pressure tester, so not an option. I really like the belt/pulley/drill method. Just need to get through another cold one tonight and then its supposed to warm up a little.

 

You're logic and math don't correspond with any published antifreeze concentration chart.

 

I understand I was just ball parkin'. You would think it would be a proportionate ratio.

 

Since nobody has stated the obvious, I will. Why did you not have antifreeze in it already, you live in cold climate, and why don't you just pull the bottom hose, drain it, and refill it with 50/50? There's no stat, so just fill it. Three pages already......

 

Someone needs some Engine Block Bourbon this fine morning.

 

Pulling the bottom hose doesn't drain the block, them little pipe plugs by the oil pan rail do.
There's a lot of coolant space in a block and each side is separate so you need to pull both of them.

 

Ah, I see. I'll rephrase, "Go drain it and fill with 50/50". [emoji12]

 

It's on a bell curve

 

so, just the carburetor is off a previously running motor - why not just pull the coil wire, put end of fuel line in a bucket and then crank the motor over a short while? wouldn't that get the water circulating? then if level in radiator is low add more coolant.

 

I agree I should have added more antifreeze before it got super cold. But it sounds like an easy fix. Add antifreeze to the expansion tank. Crank water pump over using a belt and a pulley on a drill or just friction. After all antifreeze has been added check by draining into a cup from the radiator drain T.

 

You guys are making too much of this. If you ever filled a car with antifreeze you know 1 gallon of antifreeze and 1 gallon of water is the typical mix and this is enough to fill most cars. If he poured a gallon of pure antifreeze in there it is not going to freeze no matter what was in there to begin with. So just forget it until spring.

If for some crazy reason you want to fill a car up that does not even run just use 50-50 mix. Or if you want to totally waste some money fill it with pure antifreeze. It will mix by itself, eventually. If you don't believe me half fill a jar with water then fill up with antifreeze and see if they mix themselves.

 

I should also point out that even a weak antifreeze mix does not freeze solid right away. It turns slushy. It will not crack a block until it freezes solid. I would guess a 25% or 35% mix would prevent damage in Utica.

 

Will an LED lamp work? ha ha

 

LED lights aren't traditional.

 

Doesn't a block with out water not freeze ????????????????????

 

You are probably correct. When I filled it this fall I thought the same thing...but then you start to second guess your initial thought.