Frozen Car

[ml1936]

The water system on my car has frozen, i obviously forgot to fill it up with anti-freeze. I've been pouring hot water on pipes all day to defrost ice in pipes. It now feels defrosted. The engine would not turn over, it orignally clicked only once then died. Now its been defrosted it'll click a few times but dosnt sound like its turning engine over. Will the water inside the egine still be frozen and be stopping the engine from turning? How can i defrost it?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[naebothernoo]

if engine canot turn the water pump may be frozen. try removing the fan belt to see if it turns over, although a good battery should turn it over. the best thing is to warm it up slowly, I used towels soaked in warm water placed on the engine and changed frequentlt. Hope you're lucky to avoid any damage.

 

[yes2mud]

ml1936,unless you are running something from the 1960's,you should have antifreeze in all year round.More or less every modern engine has alluminium components,even if it's only the inlet manifold.Most have ally cylinder head.The antifreeze is required to prevent corrosion and to raise the boiling point under pressure.If you can get a fan heater to it,try warming with it.As naebothernoo says,the only moving part in the cooling system is the waterpump,but(you don't say what car)some pumps are driven by the cambelt and if you get it to crank on the starter before the pump is definately free,you could jump the belt round the pulley and damage valves.

 

[JohnD]

See also //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=493220#493220

 

[wotan]

ml1936,unless you are running something from the 1960's,you should have antifreeze in all year round.More or less every modern engine has alluminium components,even if it's only the inlet manifold.Most have ally cylinder head.The antifreeze is required to prevent corrosion and to raise the boiling point under pressure.If you can get a fan heater to it,try warming with it.As naebothernoo says,the only moving part in the cooling system is the waterpump,but(you don't say what car)some pumps are driven by the cambelt and if you get it to crank on the starter before the pump is definately free,you could jump the belt round the pulley and damage valves.

The water pump would be driven by an ancilliary belt also the alternator, the cam belt drives the camshaft/s.

Wotan

 

[^neo^]

ml1936,unless you are running something from the 1960's,you should have antifreeze in all year round.More or less every modern engine has alluminium components,even if it's only the inlet manifold.Most have ally cylinder head.The antifreeze is required to prevent corrosion and to raise the boiling point under pressure.If you can get a fan heater to it,try warming with it.As naebothernoo says,the only moving part in the cooling system is the waterpump,but(you don't say what car)some pumps are driven by the cambelt and if you get it to crank on the starter before the pump is definately free,you could jump the belt round the pulley and damage valves.

The water pump would be driven by an ancilliary belt also the alternator, the cam belt drives the camshaft/s.

Wotan

Wrong unfortunately.
Alot of engines (especially in the VW/Audi range) have the waterpump driven by the timing belt, and quite often the waterpump is used as the belt tensioner

 

[Stivino]

The O.P. is probably fed up pouring hot water on it by now, given that the 1st post was in 2006.

 

[pompeyal]

ml1936,unless you are running something from the 1960's,you should have antifreeze in all year round.More or less every modern engine has alluminium components,even if it's only the inlet manifold.Most have ally cylinder head.The antifreeze is required to prevent corrosion and to raise the boiling point under pressure.If you can get a fan heater to it,try warming with it.As naebothernoo says,the only moving part in the cooling system is the waterpump,but(you don't say what car)some pumps are driven by the cambelt and if you get it to crank on the starter before the pump is definately free,you could jump the belt round the pulley and damage valves.

The water pump would be driven by an ancilliary belt also the alternator, the cam belt drives the camshaft/s.

Wotan

Not on all cars Wotan, VW's on some of their cars the water pump is driven from the cam belt and seconds as the belt adjuster. Opps sorry neo, wrote this before reading on....doh... 2006 was a very cold year.....lol