Frozen engine?

Question

I went on a road trip with some friends a few days ago, and the problem is where I live it's not that cold so I was told putting water in my radiator was fine. But during the trip we stopped by at a friends place and left the car there while we went out. When we got back the car wouldn't start and the waters seems to have frozen (it drops below freezing at night where he lives). Will it hurt the car? and what's the best thing I can do right now? thank you in advance, and help please :(

Answer 1

you need to get your radiator "flushed" by a licenced mechanic at a garage.

Answer 2

Frozen Engine Block

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Frozen engine?
I went on a road trip with some friends a few days ago, and the problem is where I live it's not that cold so I was told putting water in my radiator was fine. But during the trip we stopped by at a friends place and left the car there while we went out. When we got back the car wouldn't...

Answer 4

You need to find whoever told you to use pure water and hit him with a tire iron. Antifreeze keeps the coolant from boiling and protects the engine from corrosion. You've probably at least busted the radiator, maybe popped freeze plugs, possibly cracked the block. Read the manual and don't trust Billy Bob manure brain next time.
All you can do is thaw the car out, drain the water, put in enough antifreeze to make it 50% of your coolant and run the car with the hood open, watching for leaks and a lot of steam out the tailpipe. Shut it down once it's warmed up and check the oil for water and the water for oil. If everything looks good, check the coolant level every few miles for a while to make sure you aren't losing any.
If it's ok, you'll need a killer flush to get all the rust and scale out of the engine that running pure water caused.

Answer 5

You may be ok, if it didn't freeze too hard. Get out a hair dryer and warm it up. Hopefully you didn't break anything. But if you did, it was probably the radiator itself first. If even worse, you could crack your engine block. If that happened, junk the car. But a radiator you can replace. Whatever you do, don't drive it far until it thaws out (use a hair dryer and HOPE that works. Start at the bottom of the radiator and hoses. Most freeze at the bottom hoses first, then the radiator. But if it's the block, junk the car. Hope you learned something about cold weather and cars!

Answer 6

i own a repair shop,and there's a good possibility it may have frozen and busted the block in it,if you can get the temperature up on it,and get it thawed out ,all you can do is try and start it and see if it has done any damage to it,it might not have froze in the engine,it might have just got slushy in the radiator,but it will have to thaw out before you,ll know anything about it,if you can get it In a heated garage you might get it to thaw out,and it may not have damaged the engine,i hope its ok for you,maybe this will help you some,good luck with it.

Answer 7

Hope for your sake it didn't freeze enough to do any damage.You should run antifreeze at all times,antifreeze is a coolant,lubricant, rust inhibitor as well as keeping it from freezing.