I have a project car that I have to put outside for the winter, and I can't get the drain plugs out to drain the engine due to their location. There is anti-freeze in it, but it tests at about +10 F, but here in MN I might see a night at -30. I know that good enough to flow is different than good enough to prevent damage. Don't care if it gets a little slushy, just don't want to crack the block. Anyone have any calculations on this? I know some old timers would put a quart or two in and call it good for the winter, but does anyone have any facts? Thanks.
There is usually a chart on the back of the antifreeze bottle that tells you how much is needed to get such and such amount of temperature protection. If you care about the motor go overboard and put in more than it says........cheap insurance. 30 below !!! I just caught a cold thinking about that one !!!!!!! Don
Sadly I'm no stranger to -30 or colder. A common mistake is to use a ratio higher than 70% at which point it gels and burns up engine blocks due to lack of movement. Get an antifreeze tester from a FLAPS and don't exceed 65/35 ratio which should be good to -40 or better.
It depends on where you keep your car. Garage or outside under some tarp??? However at +10 you're not good anywhere at -30.
Good quality anti freeze mixed 50/50 will not freeze and bust anything well below -40 so if the car runs drain the rad add a gallon of pure anti freeze. Mix another gallon 50/50 which means you will have 2 gallons of 50/50. Top up the rad and run the motor until your sure the thermostat has opened and all the system has circulated. If yor present anti freeze was good for -10 you will be good for as cold as you'll ever need. If the stuff you took out of the rad is relatively clean and fresh use it to dilute the gallons for topping up.
How much coolant? Water is a coolant. The usual ratio for "anti-freeze" and water is 50/50. That's good to -35 or -40. If you are so concerned, yank the motor and put it inside.
Is the block full and can you circulate water? If you can't circulate water then you need to get the coolent out of it, period. The reason I say this is that adding anti freeze is not going to cure your problem if you can't get it mixed with the water in the block. If the block is not full you may be OK as the water has a place to expand to. You could try knocking the soft plugs out of it that will let quite a bit of the coolent out of most engines.
I just re-read your post. You're going to have to get either the drain plugs out somehow or as Beaner said knock out the freeze plugs. Don't take chances, it will bite you right square in the ass!
LOL. The question is actually funny, The answer is simple. A 50-50 mix is the easiest, Glycol and water equal parts and good to go, even for -45. Here in Canada our standard is the 50-50 mix. If the mixture you have says -10 when you test it, IT WILL FREEZE SOLID when it gets below that
I have a tester and I tested it. I guess what I am asking is what does it have to test at to prevent damage? I realize that, for example, if it tests at 0 degrees, somewhere below that it turns to slush and won't circulate with the pump. At some point colder than that (slush), it will become solid ice and risk breaking the engine or radiator. Based on the test, I am guessing that I am at about 80/20 or 70/30.
In parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta Canada it is not uncommon to have temperatures way below -40C (orF) in the winter I have never used more than 50/50 which when tested always says -37 to -40. I have on a couple of occasions been driving when the temp is below -45 and never frozen up! Not to repeat the good advise here but your answer is 50/50 pure undiluted anti freeze and water.
I also live in MN and have always run 50-50 with no issues and 5 years were with Duluth weather. Around the cities where I am now it's usually about 10 degrees warmer and 50-50 seems to work out fine. When I was living in AZ I ran about a 30-70 mix with no issues. Can't you just take the lower radiator hose off? I know it won't drain everything but it should take enough out for expansion. I did it once and it worked out fine for me. Maybe I got lucky.
A pint of water left in a block will split it from end to end at the bottom of the water jacket I've seen it on Model As, old Chevy sixes and Flatheads. Believe me this is the land of busted blocks from freezing!
I believe you and I probably got lucky. I didn't research it I just did it because I was deploying and forgot about it until the day before I left.
after you fill the system up run it to mix it fully and i would start it up monthly because antifreeze will separate. when i did CA apple storage we used antifreeze in the room vent tubes to keep air from re-entering the room and had to stir it every month because it would seperate from sitting,looked like mud balls sitting in clear water.
Yank the motor and use the long dark winter to rebuild it. Thats crazy about the drained blocks cracking with just a little water innit. We had a real cold snap here in Tucson last year. It got down to 8 deg where I live and popped the plugs on my daughter's Falcon. Just water, "No problem, honey, It wont get that cold here". Every freeze plug was off the shelves. I had to wait three days to get a set. I now have a few in the fodmar.
You were very lucky imagine another 50 degrees colder and the damage that could occur, people who live where it gets colder and stays that way will know. Take a metal pail put a couple of inches of water it it and set it outside with no lid on it when it's freezing cold in a couple hours it will be frozen solid and the bottom of the pail will be so bulged it won't sit flat anymore. Surface freezes first and as the remainder freezes and expands it pushes the bottom of the pail out.
pull engine and leave it in the garage or drain by pulling radiator hose off botom of radiator then make sure it's low enough
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