5 miles with no coolant yes or no??

[de_foz]

hi unsure if it is a good idea or not?
but my van is parked with no access to a hose have just sorted an earting issue and finally had engine fire into life
the main coolant bottle is full of grey sludge, possibly from engine swap not being fully flushed, broken oil cooler,or head but prob not.

thinking of draining sytem changing oil cooler and then filling from water contaier and driving five mles to where i can park it with access to a hose.do a proper flush and then fill up with coolant.
do people think good idea

or should i fork out for two lots of coolant???
or just drive on sludge???
or is it possble to clear just by draining running with a coolant flush draining and filling again were it is???
any advice appreciated

[REGGAJ]

yes

[richlaz]

I wouldn't even be thinking about it lol

Get the coolant sorted before you go anywhere

[lloydy]

The post is a bit hard to follow, but does he not mean driving on plain water for 5 miles? If so, it's ok. Otherwise, no.
Maybe OP can clarify?

[California Dreamin]

I wouldn't even be thinking about it lol

Get the coolant sorted before you go anywhere

?? why.

Running your engine with just water, albeit with sludgey deposits isn't the best idea but needs must.....as long as water isn't getting into the oil (the oil will look like Bailey's)
No need for Antifreeze, a day of just water isn't going to damage anything but drop it as soon as you get to your destination just in case it's freezing on the evening.
Carefully watch the temp gauge and stop if it rises too much.

Oil pressure is higher than water pressure so oil in coolant from an internally corroded oil cooler isn't unheard of.

Martin

[richlaz]

?? why.

Because it would only take a few minutes to clean the sludgy crap out of the water bottle (which is probably where most of the sludge is), but will be harder to flush out when it's been circulated around all the pipework?

As for the anti freeze, indeed water should be ok, as it's not stupidly cold at the moment

[ghost123uk]

Just to add my 2pence worth...

Bare in mind if filling from containers, they take about 18 ltrs in total and it will need bleeding.

Re sludge, clear as much as you can, it then should be fine to go that distance as long as the system is full up and bled.

Just to note, after I had a very bad oil in water situation (a few years ago now). I fitted a replacement engine but of course the cooling system was full of sludgy oily mess. It took ages and MANY flushes, plain water about 10 times, then with rad flush the last time, before I was happy it was clear. It's not as bad as it sounds. I used to do it daily (it was my daily driver) each time I got home. In the end I could drain it (well most of it) re-fill and bleed in less than 30 minutes. I didn't take the rad pipes off at the front, just drained by removing the lower pipes in the engine bay.

The only problem I can see is that if you have to do all that I had to as above, it is still freezing at nights at the moment and you CANNOT rely on draining it at night. Maybe a quick flush, then fill with 25% antifreeze. That will be enough for the night time temps at this time of year and will save cash over the 2 x 4.5Ltr cans you really need. Then, when the weather has warmed up, flush it a few times over a couple of days and when happy, do the final fill with the 50/50 mix.

Note also that it takes a long time to mix the plain water with the anti-freeze (if you do it the normal way) at this time of year because it is a big system and the stat has to fully open, then the water needs circulating round to fully mix it. Best to mix it in the containers and put then put the ready mixed fluids in

[xpress]

you can get the pinky stuff pre-mixed in 5l bottles.

[AdrianC]

it is still freezing at nights at the moment

It is - but given the impossibility of a total drain, so a bit of remaining antifreeze and the not-far-below-zero temps, I'd risk it. BUT only if you can trust yourself to remember and abide by the fact it's very much a short-term get-you-home solution.

Short-to-medium term damage is less likely to be through freezing, and more likely to be through internal corrosion, without the anti-corrosive properties of the anti-freeze.

[California Dreamin]

?? why.

Because it would only take a few minutes to clean the sludgy crap out of the water bottle (which is probably where most of the sludge is), but will be harder to flush out when it's been circulated around all the pipework?

As for the anti freeze, indeed water should be ok, as it's not stupidly cold at the moment

With respect....the oil originated from another part of the system, it has already been 'circulated', what you are seeing in the header tank is just part of the contamination, refilling with water and driving for 5 miles might help flush out the mess. However, the reality is...the oil is still leaking into the coolant so more mess is being added to.

Martin

[AdrianC]

With respect....the oil originated from another part of the system, it has already been 'circulated', what you are seeing in the header tank is just part of the contamination, refilling with water and driving for 5 miles might help flush out the mess. However, the reality is...the oil is still leaking into the coolant so more mess is being added to.

Might be worth adding a bottle or three (remembering how much more coolant there is than a normal car) of coolant flush to it.

<thinks>
Or maybe just some fairy liquid?
That's a joke, by the way... If you do add fairy liquid, please post video of bleeding it...

[California Dreamin]

From a purely functional perspective, oil in the water isn't a biggy, infact, it was common practice in the 'olden days' lol, to add a couple of cap fulls of Retinax oil to help quieten squeeky water pumps.

It looks bloo.dy horrible but it isn't that drastic.

Martin

[de_foz]

great respomse thanks
think ill go ahead then and drain replace the cooler and refill with a small mount of coolant as a get it home solution
i have started at this as a total novice and am learning a lot from this website, thanks again, guess ill be a pro at this by time the gunk clears.

[ghost123uk]

think ill go ahead then and drain replace the cooler and refill with a small mount of coolant as a get it home solution

By "small amount of coolant" we hope you mean a full fill with water, with some anti-freeze to cover any minus temps at night ? (As opposed to just a small amount of liquid of any sort in the system. I suspect a slight language or terminology issue is clouding the water here (pun sort of intended )

[richlaz]

With respect....the oil originated from another part of the system, it has already been 'circulated', what you are seeing in the header tank is just part of the contamination, refilling with water and driving for 5 miles might help flush out the mess. However, the reality is...the oil is still leaking into the coolant so more mess is being added to.

Martin

I suppose so... I was just thinking to get as much crap out as possible beforehand