what a dick..... anti freeze - air cooled 200tdi

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top drive

top drive

Well-Known Member
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Peoples republic of culter
So first cold snap since the rebuild (the bottles of minus 10 rated screenwash in the rear tub were frozen)

and apparently so was my coolant - COCK - there was anti freeze in i know that but obviously the wrong mix.

First sign - my heater never got warm despite the temperature gauge saying - engine warm. (normal temp)

stopped - engine off - opened bonnet - steam out of the expansion tank - all hoses felt empty :S

coasted down to the shop with the engine off (on a private road honest) Waited for it to "cool down" and filled up my coolant with some water from a land rover friendly local shop before driving back to the house (4 miles) at normal temperature. - and no leaks - then i took the bottom hose off to empty it and stop it freezing while i was at work .

What did i break .... i guess at worst ive trashed the head with heat - possibly knocked out a core plug - i guess ill find out when its fully defrosted and i get some heat in the block.

Radiator will need a good check over once its defrosted.

Double/triple/quad strength anti freeze going in tonight.
 
Surely if your coolant had frozen the pipes would have felt hard? Top hose anyway as your thermostat wouldn't have opened. Fingers crossed you got away with it and there's no damage
 
thinking more about it - surely the motor would have turned over slow or not started at

Possible the radiator and heater matrix froze but the block and pipes aint and thats why the the shortened system "over heated" to steam

antifreeze and tester being bought at lunch
 
i renewed mine when i rebuilt it ....following the instructions......

i dont recall having topped it off when checking but cannot be certain.

going to ensure its in the "extreme range" from now on.....
 
Mine's about 50/50 maybe a bit more with Halfords oat stuff and it's always bright orange, I believe that the filling method is a bit different on mine as it's a 300tdi but I've never had issues with air locks or owt
 
top drive said:
thinking more about it - surely the motor would have turned over slow or not started at

Possible the radiator and heater matrix froze but the block and pipes aint and thats why the the shortened system "over heated" to steam

antifreeze and tester being bought at lunch
Click to expand...

Frozen coolant won't stop the engine starting and running normally.

Coolant will thaw quickly in the block. The rad will freeze first and take longest to thaw so overheating is possible.

The real worry is cracks caused by expansion as it turns to ice but if it froze in the block the water pump would be seized and the aux belt would be screaming.
 
blue beasty said:
Frozen coolant won't stop the engine starting and running normally.

Coolant will thaw quickly in the block. The rad will freeze first and take longest to thaw so overheating is possible.

The real worry is cracks caused by expansion as it turns to ice but if it froze in the block the water pump would be seized and the aux belt would be screaming.
Click to expand...

Yep! Makes the fanbelt squeal a treat when the water pump is frozen solid! :D
 
top drive said:
well we will find out in the near future i imagine :D
Click to expand...

Doubt if it will be as bad as you think. Seen a few frozen and come back to life after core plug change, sometimes not even that. All depends on how hard iit froze, and what antifreeze was actually present.
We used to run about a 70/30 blue antifreeze to water mix on tree work up there, that worked fine, helped if the vehicle was left in a sheltered spot, less chill in the night for the morning restart.
Sometimes used to get diesel waxing too, petrol in the tanks helped with that! :)
 
ive had the landy out in -28 before in drumtochtry glen - with the 19j in it. .... last night was a fairly benign night of maybe -10 or a little more.......

Im sure there will be nothing a bit of graft cant sort but it would be nice if it was just a warning shot across the bows..... dont be a dick , check your anti freeze .....

Tester bought :D will check the other cars too.
 
My 19j froze solid a few times, crunching from the water pump, never caused any problems.
 
Marmaduke said:
Mine's about 50/50 maybe a bit more with Halfords oat stuff and it's always bright orange, I believe that the filling method is a bit different on mine as it's a 300tdi but I've never had issues with air locks or owt
Click to expand...
Be wary of using OAT if the vehicle wasn't designed to run on it (and yours isn't), just because it seems to be the 'latest type' doesn't mean it is better than the old ' non OAT blue' stuff. There are different corrosion inhibitors in the different types of coolant and you may end up springing leaks in your radiator if it is copper/steel rather than aluminium/plastic.
 
Iirc neat anti freeze will freeze, 50/50 is good down to minus 30, any mix above 50/50 is of no extra benefit.
I wonder what they use in really cold places?
Blue for the old ****.
Red oats for anything td5 onwards.
 
Fingers crossed for you.

I changed mine prior to this winter as their was no evidence of anti freeze.

Given the lack of water are you sure you haven't had a leak and just lost it?
 
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