Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,

the radiator on our van (1.9 petrol, auto) burst a few weeks ago and emptied itself on the road. The AA man topped up with water and poured some blocking stuff in to get us home. Our van has been sat on the drive waiting for the new radiator to be fitted on Monday 8th Jan.... it only dawned on me yesterday that there now isn't any coolant mixed in with the water!

I'm not a mechanical man, but it's been minus 10 degrees around here.... I'm sure this is really bad news!!
What's the best thing for me to do now? Or will the damage already have been done?

Also I need to get the van to the garage which is about 3 miles away - should I try and get a heater under the van and drive it there??

Really worried!!! Any help really appreciated...

if you are lucky, it didn't dump all its coolant - takes about 16L....

go and squeeze pipes...are they solid....look in header and expansion tanks....frozen?

then post back - sure someone will be along to help!

Em
x

and flush the system.the stuff the breakdown fella put in could well end up blocking the new rad...

Like has been said, even when the system is drained from its lowest point there is about 4 liters left in the engine.

If it was a bit light on coolant then I would not take the chance in these temperatures.

I would get it trailered to the garage, flush the carp out and treat the new rad to some quality coolant.

The water in the expansion tank is frozen solid! We tried to push the van into a mates garage to thaw, but the roof of the garage was a couple of inches too low.

Does anyone see any problems with just waiting unil the weather gets above freezing and then taking it the garage? Or could waiting that long cause more problems?

I've already bought some G12 coolant (as when I did a search on coolant that seemed to be the recommendend option)

cheers all.... I hope some of you are enjoying the snow more that our van!

hi - which tank.....the one behind the number plate flap, or the one in the engine bay??
have you tried squeezing the pipes in the engine?


Em
x

hi, yeah it was the one in the engine bay that was frozen solid (and about half full)
the one behind the number plate was empty.
I didn't squeeze any pipes though (wasn't really sure what to squeeze?)

I'd get it changed soon as before your head bolts rust and you need a new engine.

marandali wrote:The water in the expansion tank is frozen solid! We tried to push the van into a mates garage to thaw, but the roof of the garage was a couple of inches too low.

Would it be any use you deflating the tyres enough to let you in, also if you have one fitted take the top off your rooflight (carefully).....

E D I T just seen your avatar forget the rooflight

Andy

Top the engine tank with neat antifreeze, it should slowly melt the ice. The head studs should be ok as long as you sort the problem asap after it's thawed.