FROZEN MY G60

[PRANA666 0]

Hi guys,

 

Dont know if I am looking for abuse, sympathy or a lil help.......

 

My rado lives in my uncles garage as she is more of an investment than a daily drive. Due to needing space in garage (family funeral) I moved her onto his drive way with the intention of moving the her back into garage once things had settled down.

 

Admittedly I should have moved the car back into the garage sooner, I only managed to get round to doing it yesterday. It did not suprise me that she would not start, being sat up for sometime I assumed the engine was not turning over due to low battery power and pushed the car into the garage.

 

Once in the garage I thought I would check the water pipes just to make sure they had not frozen as a small precaution as I am 100% sure I had filled it up with antifreeze in the summer.

 

Anyway without longing this out all the radiator pipes are frozen solid along with any other part which holds water!!! :( My own dumd ass fault for not moving the car earlier and double checking the pipes when the cold weather came.

 

My question to my learned friends is, what do I do now? (leave it to thaw naturally, leave a blown heater next to it etc). Also what damage am I likely to have done? Cracked the block? Ruined the radiator? water pump?

 

Any comments, advice is welcome.

 

Thanks

[mr.ots 10]

Uness your garage is heated I doubt whether it would have made any difference being inside or out in the current low temperatures without antifreeze.

 

Until it all thaws out your probably not going to know whether any damage has been caused unless it is immediately visible such as cracks. I remember an old Cortina I had years ago had no antifreeze in and it froze but fortunately it just popped out one of the plugs in the block that they put in after casting and it was easily fixed.

 

Just check the water levels in the expansion tank once it thaws and you have it up to operating temperature. If it drops then you are obviously losing coolant (water in this case) somewhere.

 

Keep your fingers crossed :eek:

[Wullie 1]

I was told years ago to take of as many hoses as you can get to to allow any presure to be bleed off. Makes a mess when it starts to thaw out of course. It was on a Austin 1300 and allwas well afterwards. Don't know whether taking the hoses off helped or not to be honest.

[Guest]

Can't really help any with what to do to thaw it out properly but I recon if it is foobarred you will know as soon as it is thawed, battery charged and you try to fire it up.

A long time ago a boyfriend of mine left his escort buried up to the roof (25 years+ ago when we used to have real snow) while we used my mini.

On eventually digging it out it wouldn't fire up and on taking the cylinder head off all bores had water in them and were rusty. Definite case of the block having cracked (though there was no outward signs of it having done so).

 

Fingers crossed for you.

[Reggit 0]

If you can get a hose off then do it as ice expands when it starts to defrost, that's when problems can occur. Otherwise let it defrost naturally, whatever you do don't try and run the engine.

 

As the above says, you'll only know if there is damage when it's all thawed out.

[PRANA666 0]

Thanks for all the advice guys,

 

Just got back from removing the lid off of the expansion tank and taking off a few of the hoses etc.

 

Not sure if it looks good or not (by good I mean not as bad as I had thought), the liquid in the expansion tank is not completly solid, took the pipe off of the top of the rad that is completly iced up and all the liquid in the rad looked completly iced as well (bummer as it was a brand new rad purchased from vw in germany)...........

 

Such as people have said wont really know what damage has been caused until it has thawed out. Thinking about leaving a blow fan running in the corner of the garage to raise the temp a little but obviously not too fast as I think that would have adverse effect.

 

Thanks all and I will let ya know the outcome.

[bjork 0]

I did this on my Mk2 Gti valver I used to own.

 

Sheared off the water pump impellor and led to overheating hell.

 

New water pump and all was ok.

 

Hope you get a good outcome like I did. And I garauntee you'll be checking the anti freeze all the time. I'm obsessed with the stuff now!!!

[PRANA666 0]

thanks bjork,

 

I actually put a new water pump on the car recently, when I say recently it was over a year and a half ago but the car has only done a maximum of 40miles since, as I have kept her as purely an investment and cause I love cars.

 

Also got a brand new rad from germany which set me back a fair wack so I am really hoping that has not been damaged.

 

The car was so close to being perfect, in the same condition as when it left the factory. Alls that remained was to replace my drivers door (current one is a lil rusty in two patches) and the rear spoiler (motor is knackered). I have both of these ready to be swopped over. Whats the saying....? "that which does not kill me will make me stronger!"

[PRANA666 0]

Hi all,

 

thought I would put a little update on here and also to maybe seek some more advice.

 

So the cold has kinda finally left us, decided to put all the pipes back on yesterday and fire her up. Alls seemed good she started first time, no real unusual noises either which was a bonus, no water leaking onto the ground from anywhere.However checking the oil cap after leaving her running for ten minutes there was traces of the dreaded white creamy slug, cleaned it up and hoped it might have been there for some other reason. Checked the cap again 5 minutes later the and white stuff was back, also there was a fair amount of white smoke coming out of the exhaust. It has not been 100% confirmed yet but all the signs say there is water in the engine :( .

 

I am thinking probably cracked block, any other cause for the water in the engine is going to be a bonus. Anyone any ideas? Suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance

[colinstubbs 0]

could it have just shagged the head gasket?

[iR6 0]

I wouldnt jump to conclusions just yet pal. Take the car for a decent run as it sounds like its been through a rough time :) these motors like many dont like being stop / started, short runs etc.

 

Keep an eye on the temp gauge, but i'd say the creamy deposit :D is more likely to be condensation then anything serious.

 

Take it for a drive and get the engine up to a good temperature :salute:

[Reggit 0]

Just sounds like condensation to me. Like the post above says,take it out for a good run, I'm betting the white steam from the exhaust will clear after 15 mins or so.

 

Usually a core plug would let go before anything else, as they are there for that purpose.

[Jon_vr6 1]

Yeah take it for a good run out then come back leave it for a while then check your oil cap should have dissappered hopefully if not then your worst fears come true

[Erny 0]

Any signs of Mayo from the dipstick? Ied take it for a good run, like everyone above says, it's probly condensation.

[PRANA666 0]

Thanks all, I really do hope a good run is all she needs. I'm in a bit of a catch 22 though. As she was bought as an investment the MOT or Road Tax or Insurance ran out a long time ago.

 

I have probably done less than 300miles in the 3/4 years I've owned the car.

 

Short of jacking the front end up and running it (which is a pretty reckless idea) I dont know what to do?

[Guest]

Two choices.

You sit and wait for the roads to clean up, then pay your tax, ins - oh just remembered the MOT bit.... well, you sort all that out then put your mind at rest

 

OR

 

You sort all that out NOW, get it driven a bit and know the worst (or breath a sigh of relief). It wont fall to pieces after a bit of hot soapy water!! :nono:

Sitting up for 3 / 4 years and only doing a few hundred miles wont be doing it any good and what's the point of owning it if you never drive it???? :confused4:

[Reggit 0]

That's explain the mayo - you're not using the car. As butterfly said it won't do it any good just sitting there not been used. A vehicle needs to be used otherwise fluids/seals start to degrade. If you look at classic car storage places, they all recommend that the car has a 20 mile run every 2 months to keep it in full working condition.

 

If you want to keep it but not use it, I would advise draining all fluids from the vehicle. OK, possibly not the brake/clutch fluid, although the seals are still likely to need replacement when you recommission it. Guess how I know!

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

ice expands when it starts to defrost

 

id like to see some evidence to that effect please. I know water expands when it freezes but not when it thaws!

[Serial 0]

ice expands when it starts to defrost

 

id like to see some evidence to that effect please. I know water expands when it freezes but not when it thaws!

 

Ice gets more dense as you cool it down further below 0C, so as you warm it up it will expand until it turns into water, when it suddenly contracts.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice#Freeze-thaw

[demons uk 0]

Mine popped a core plug, got a hammer and knocked it back in without any adverse effects although i will get back under the car and make sure its fully in.

 

Also mine had a small amount of mayo on oil cap, it has been sat since before christmas and i fixed it all up today in the rain and it drives fine now, water temps nice and low and will give it an oil change tomorrow as there creeping up and mayo on the oil gone.

[PRANA666 0]

Sorted, spoke to a friend who said I can borrow his trade plates and give her a run out.

 

I have no intention of using the car, I have a daily drive A4 tdi (700 miles to a tank), 200sx (100 miles to a tank) and also a toyota celica. The car was bought as an investment which I'm sure I already stated. I think she has had 2/3 previous owners, no modifications so basically how she came out of the factory. Got a full service history pretty much from when she was born, only thing which there is no history for is the charger, so had the rebuilt to standard by G-werks. Body work except drivers door is mint. I have replaced the parts which I thought would give the car a clean bill of health such as water pump, cam belt etc. Give it 5-10 years and I dont think there will be many of these g60's available. I do take on board she needs to be driven every couple of months though, will defo pen that into my diary.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys fingers crossed.

[Alex_G60_Fanatic 0]

Ice gets more dense as you cool it down further below 0C, so as you warm it up it will expand until it turns into water, when it suddenly contracts.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice#Freeze-thaw

 

 

yeah... so the water has already gone through the process of rapid expansion due to cooling (at 0 degreesish depending on the salinity of the water)... if anything was going to break surely it would be at the point the water freezes?

 

the way the previous comment was written it sounded like he was describing the rapid expansion of frozen water AFTER it had melted... :?

[iR6 0]

Sorted, spoke to a friend who said I can borrow his trade plates and give her a run out.

 

I have no intention of using the car, I have a daily drive A4 tdi (700 miles to a tank), 200sx (100 miles to a tank) and also a toyota celica. The car was bought as an investment which I'm sure I already stated. I think she has had 2/3 previous owners, no modifications so basically how she came out of the factory. Got a full service history pretty much from when she was born, only thing which there is no history for is the charger, so had the rebuilt to standard by G-werks. Body work except drivers door is mint. I have replaced the parts which I thought would give the car a clean bill of health such as water pump, cam belt etc. Give it 5-10 years and I dont think there will be many of these g60's available. I do take on board she needs to be driven every couple of months though, will defo pen that into my diary.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys fingers crossed.

 

Nice one, check the car still has MOT though, as i'm sure trade plates only cover the tax and insurance side of things,

wouldnt want you getting pulled for it.

[pete_griff 0]

Sorted, spoke to a friend who said I can borrow his trade plates and give her a run out.

 

I have no intention of using the car, I have a daily drive A4 tdi (700 miles to a tank), 200sx (100 miles to a tank) and also a toyota celica. The car was bought as an investment which I'm sure I already stated. I think she has had 2/3 previous owners, no modifications so basically how she came out of the factory. Got a full service history pretty much from when she was born, only thing which there is no history for is the charger, so had the rebuilt to standard by G-werks. Body work except drivers door is mint. I have replaced the parts which I thought would give the car a clean bill of health such as water pump, cam belt etc. Give it 5-10 years and I dont think there will be many of these g60's available. I do take on board she needs to be driven every couple of months though, will defo pen that into my diary.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys fingers crossed.

 

Nice one, check the car still has MOT though, as i'm sure trade plates only cover the tax and insurance side of things,

wouldnt want you getting pulled for it.

 

trade plates will allow you to drive anything!

 

i would do a compressioin test before you go anywhere as that should be a good indicator as a start. i would also be wary of taking it for too much of a "good run out". by all means get it warmed up and take it down the road to burn off any residual water that might be lurking, but if water is getting in then you will be doing more harm than good.

best of luck getting it all sorted anyhow...

[iR6 0]

Sorted, spoke to a friend who said I can borrow his trade plates and give her a run out.

 

I have no intention of using the car, I have a daily drive A4 tdi (700 miles to a tank), 200sx (100 miles to a tank) and also a toyota celica. The car was bought as an investment which I'm sure I already stated. I think she has had 2/3 previous owners, no modifications so basically how she came out of the factory. Got a full service history pretty much from when she was born, only thing which there is no history for is the charger, so had the rebuilt to standard by G-werks. Body work except drivers door is mint. I have replaced the parts which I thought would give the car a clean bill of health such as water pump, cam belt etc. Give it 5-10 years and I dont think there will be many of these g60's available. I do take on board she needs to be driven every couple of months though, will defo pen that into my diary.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys fingers crossed.

 

Nice one, check the car still has MOT though, as i'm sure trade plates only cover the tax and insurance side of things,

wouldnt want you getting pulled for it.

 

trade plates will allow you to drive anything!

 

i would do a compressioin test before you go anywhere as that should be a good indicator as a start. i would also be wary of taking it for too much of a "good run out". by all means get it warmed up and take it down the road to burn off any residual water that might be lurking, but if water is getting in then you will be doing more harm than good.

best of luck getting it all sorted anyhow...

 

Think you'll find the vehicle must have an MOT or be on the way to one....its gotta be road worthy mate.