Frozen 200tdi

[landroversforever]

My own fault for not checking...

last saturday night... it's below 0deg... and I have a heavy drinking session to go too... mates back from uni and a bar to empty!... lots of snow about so I plan to brave it it in the 90 . Will be good fun driving through the snow on the 4ish miles to faringdon.

I try starting the truck and she's a bit sluggish turning over, I put it down to the cold. I turn her over until not alot happens... BUGGER!

I clip on the battery charger and go back in to watch telly... I dont know why but I go back out, pop the bonnet and feel the top rad hose... Solid. FECK! Opened the expansion tank, and thats solid too ( thankfully not up to the top (unless thats a bad thing further down the system???)

I've not driven her since before all this cold snap as the 206 is alot warmer .

What should I now be looking for as she is thawing (if at all yet, still rather chilly outside)?

I don't have anywhere to warm her up, or any methods I can think of to warm/drain her before the world warms up. (global warming my arse)

So, yes, err. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Thanks in advance for any help/moral support.

PS: For the kind and caring souls that are wondering, I did make it to the ale by another means

[max-ie]

Hi. Can u borrow a small heater to put under the bonnet, thaw it all out drain and replace with antifreeze. You can then run it to see if there's any damage.

[simonr]

The most damage it's likely to do is push out one or two core plugs. Though these are cheap, some of them are a pig to replace.

I'd just wait till it warms up a bit, top up the coolant. If it pours out the bottom of the engine - find where from and replace plug. If not - drive it away to the antifreeze shop!

Si

[landroversforever]

Do you think there is likely to be any other damage internally other than pushing out core plugs?

[Pinn76]

Simular with my disco 300tdi, Had antifreeze in but only protected to -18 and not lucky enough to have a wam garage to put it in. Thought, well the missus is out I'll pinch her hair drier .

Well after 10 minutes and frozen feet I decided to spice things up a bit,so out came the gas tourch. Couple of minutes on the back of the water pump and block I was able to start her up, left her running and gently heated top/bottom and heater hoses (taking care not to burn them). RESULT, fully defrosted, drained and refilled with decent antifreeze. Don't know if it was luck but didn't pop a core plug and as a bonus my heater is putting more heat out.

If you tried to start it and flattened the battery I think you may have damaged the water pump, but you will find this out when defrosted.

Hope this helps

[simonr]

Do you think there is likely to be any other damage internally other than pushing out core plugs?

Rarely. As Pinn76 says, you could have damaged the water pump by trying to turn it over - but even that is a cheap & easy fix. The next week looks like it will be a few degrees above zero during the day so it should thaw.

Si

[Retroanaconda]

Ross,

I have something like this (bit less fancy):

http://www.snhtradecentre.co.uk/fires-fireside-accessories/dimplex-dxuf30t-convector-radiator.html

Which I nicked from work, but I think they were about £15-20 when we bought a load in to warm the fish up!

Anyway, it's very useful for providing localised heat quickly. When my Series III froze I just left the fan heater under the bonnet for a couple of hours and it defrosted the block no problem. I did keep checking it mind, these things are quite good at setting alight if left unattended!

I would recommend something similar, and then once defrosted start it and run up to temperature and check for leaks. If a core-plug has gone pop it'll be pretty obvious, but keep an eye on the coolant levels for the next week or two (use the car, it's the best way to avoid these problems ).

Block damage is unlikely, but in theory possible. Only time can tell.

Good luck

[elbekko]

See my cooling woes topic on what went wrong with me.

[forkrentfitter]

let it thaw completely,if you are lucky it won,t jump the timing belt,checking antifreeze should be routine when you buy any vehicle!!!!!!!with over 3000 posts to your name i thought that would have been obvious

[elbekko]

Why would it jump the timing belt? :/

[nige90]

Why would it jump the timing belt? :/

My thoughts too.

Apart from a popped core plug there is a possibility of the radiator bursting if the

thin tubes have expanded.

As mentioned, let it thaw and keep your fingers crossed.

[forkrentfitter]

My thoughts too.

Apart from a popped core plug there is a possibility of the radiator bursting if the

thin tubes have expanded.

As mentioned, let it thaw and keep your fingers crossed.

if you read the start of the thread he tried to start it,it turned over slowly,having repaired a 300 tdi in january in similar circumstances it had jumped the belt,but hey what do i know.

[rusty_wingnut]

fan belt off and fire it up, hope it warms up enough to melt the ice and then look for the leak!

[landroversforever]

Thanks for all the help guys .

Started her up this morning, and ran her up to temperature, nothing spurting out . I think I escaped this time .

Doesnt seem to have slipped the timing, as she was running normally.

Thanks everyone!

[JJB Serenity]

The one time the temp really dropped around here I had trouble turning her over in the morning. I put a blanket over the engine and poked the hairdryer through the wing-top vent and let it run on medium heat for an hour or so. It started perfectly after that.

[elbekko]

Started her up this morning, and ran her up to temperature, nothing spurting out . I think I escaped this time .

Don't be too sure, I didn't see anything visibly spurting out either. It took a few bouts of overheating to open up the hole enough.

[landroversforever]

Don't be too sure, I didn't see anything visibly spurting out either. It took a few bouts of overheating to open up the hole enough.

OK, I'll be keeping an eye on it . Will the temp drop right off or will it rocket up if I loose coolant? (on the gauge this is) Cheers

[elbekko]

With me it was fine until it finally took in enough air to make the thermostat close, and then the temp shot up very quickly. Best thing to do then is to very carefully unscrew the thermostat cap (I hope you have a metal one) and let the pressure off there, which should buy you another few minutes to get her home/to a safe spot.

Pretty much everything coolant-related will make the temperature go up, not down.

[landroversforever]

Sorry, I know the engine temp will go up without coolant stuff. But how will the gauge behave in the cab?

[dirtyninety]

I know what you mean... and the gauge all being well will go up

[elbekko]

Since the sensor is right below the thermostat, if it works correctly it should go up. That's the point you should start worrying.

[landroversforever]

I'll start worrying when it goes up past the normal tdi coolness .

Thanks for all the help

[forkrentfitter]

if you loose all the coolant the needle will drop,the sender senses coolant temp not metalwork temp.

[landroversforever]

if you loose all the coolant the needle will drop,the sender senses coolant temp not metalwork temp.

OK then. That was what I was expecting to hear! Cheers

[elbekko]

Things will have to go pretty horribly wrong for you to loose all your coolant though, and even then the hot air in the system should still tell your sender something methinks.