QuestionAbove car belongs to some people I know from my church and now has about 330000 miles. We live near Portland, Ore & are currently under a cold spell with night temperatures in the teens & daytime highs in the 20's. This is forecasted to continue several more days. They called me because they had trouble starting the car, and while idling, was making a screeching noise.
I think the coolant is frozen. When I checked the radiator, it was empty, the reservoir was also empty or nearly so. The water pump has been leaking, they haven't gotten around to replacing it. And they've been putting in water to replenish it, thus not a 50/50mix of coolant & water.
I heard the noise while idling & saw that the water pump is seized (belt slipping & pulley not turning while idling); they realize it's way past time to replace that.
I also noticed small ice crystals inside the radiator cap & the lower radiator hose is rock hard & can't be moved or flexed at all, leading me to think it's all iced up inside.
My main question, assuming I've reached the right conclusion, is what options they have with frozen coolant in the engine? I replenished what I could with a 50/50 mix to both the reservoir & radiator. Should they have it towed now, or is it ok to let it sit until temperatures warm up, and it thaws, then start it up & see how it runs? This car is parked outside since they don't have a garage. Any suggestions & other possible problems they may encounter due to this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
AnswerThere should be engine preheaters available in your area, contact an autoparts supplier and see if you can get one of these heaters, they normally plug into house current, they warm up the oil which in a short time should also thaw out the frozen water in the engine, after that the engine should be filled with antifreeze so that this doesn't happen again and hope that no other engine damage was caused by the freeze up.
