its been suddenly really cold where i live way below freezing and my coolent is frozen i just changed it not to long ago and i flushed it out with water cuz there was some crap in the coolent then filled the rad with prestone. any way i started it up yesterday morning and it was making a loud noise and i shut it off i checked the coolent and its all frozen. what should i do ? start it up and just let it run ? will it break anything. ie the water pump or the hoseing or the thermostat any one know?

 

Let it thaw out. push it into a garage if needed.

 

Did it push any expansion plugs out or crack the block? Where do you live that gets so cold? Can you squeeze any radiator hoses?

 

ya its so cold here we didnt even have school its like 20 below in michigan and my car started but it seemed like it wnated to stall i kept reving it up so it wouldnt but she took along tim to get warm

 

What is your antifreeze to water ratio? When its 20 below do you use like 75% antifreeze?

 

I live in Minneapolis, it was just 35 below here the other day and my car didn't start for hours. My suggestion is read the coolant rating. Most work to 20 below, or something like that. What I did, was bought that isopropyl ("heat"). In the northern states, they sell this at every gas station. Dump one bottle in per 10 gallons of fuel and it takes the moisture out of your fuel system so nothing can freeze. Also, keep at least 3/4 of a tank of gas when it gets that cold. Assuming you've had your tune ups (spark plugs, etc.) done regularly, your car should start. Like stated above, though, it never hurts to keep your car in a warm shelter.

 

There is summer and winter fuel. Summer wont boil and winter wont freeze. But I dont know what the boiling and freezing point is. And living in California Does not help me to know either. (I just stay a little warmer) Has anyone ever seen fuel freeze? How cold has it got to be?
And Isopropyl is alcohol so every drug store has it. Just dont buy the stuff that has water in it.

 

Agood cold winter spell will bring out every possible car problem, including overheating. You have to be careful when using premixed antifreeze. People buy because it is cheaper, not realizing that water should not be added to it. Also if you change antifreeze on a cold day, you need to let the engine run with the heater on to get the coolant to mix properly, otherwise some spots will still freeze. Learned that when living in Watertown, NY, where they figured 20 below was a nice day. lol