Radiator coolant frozen - help!?

[bgons]

I just purchased a early 80s kubota last week. I went out of town for the last 2 days. While I was gone we got 20 degree weather in south Louisiana! The coolant (apparently mostly water) is frozen when I look in the radiator. Is it ok to start the tractor and let it warm up to melt the ice so I can put actuall coolant in it?

 

[MikeInEburg]

If it's frozen solid, I sure wouldn't! I'd throw a tarp over the hood and apply heat - making sure it's all liquid before trying to start it.
Mike

 

[spruce Deere]

Don't start it. Hope it didn't freeze hard enough to crack the block, head or something elts. Mike has the best idea, thaw it out first then try to start it. Check for cracks, leaks and coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant. A frozen engine is a spooky thing.

 

[Don87]

Ice expands.

Get heat to it immediately, the more it freezes, the more damage occurs.

 

[Argosy]

At 20 I'd worry more about the radiator splitting than the block. Thaw it out, look for leaks, fire it up and look for leaks.

Good luck!!

 

[Transit]

If I were you, I would thaw and drain the coolant into a bucket and refill with a 50-50 mix.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Do not throw the antifreeze away when you thaw it out. This sounds crazy but find a good antifreeze tester and find out what the strength is. The stronger it was relative to the temperature that you froze is a factor as to any possible damage.
Without doubt you will be putting in new and in the north we mix it 50/50. If it ever freezes at that temperature you will not be starting easily.
Craig Clayton

 

[bgons]

Thanks all for the speedy advice!

 

[SPYDERLK]

Id say tent the tractor and build a charcoal fire under it right away. Warming fairly quickly from the outside in is the safest to avoid cracking. Water expands as it freezes, but pressure keeps relieving until it hardens. Once hardened in place, heating the ice to thaw causes the solid to expand. Since its hard it cant flow and will probably crack something. Rapidly heating whats holding the ice causes melting to take place at the interface before the bulk of ice heats, allowing the water to flow and reduce pressure.
larry

 

[BotaBigot]

20 and below is point at which real damage starts to occur. Radiators are fragile, so more subject to damage. Hopefully no internal damage. As others have said, thaw out...then start, or pressure test cooling system.

There are other valid reasons to run 50/50 mix than freeze protection...anti-corrosion and higher boiling point...

 

[Mean Jean]

Put straight anti freeze into the rad.
That will start the melting process.

 

[Mace Canute]

20 F is easily cold enough to cause damage. Hopefully there was enough antifreeze in the coolant to prevent that. Warming everything up is about the only way to fix this. One thing that you will have to watch out for even if you don't have any easily detectable damage is in the rad. When the coolant freezes, it expands of course. What can happen is the tubes stretch and swell but don't leak. If they do that, there is a chance the air passages through the rad can be reduced enough to cause heating problems. If that happens you can spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down the source of the problem if you don't twig to what has happened. Just something to keep in mind come the hot season...

 

[MMH]

I just purchased a early 80s kubota last week. I went out of town for the last 2 days. While I was gone we got 20 degree weather in south Louisiana! The coolant (apparently mostly water) is frozen when I look in the radiator. Is it ok to start the tractor and let it warm up to melt the ice so I can put actuall coolant in it?

So what was the verdict? Was any real damage done?

 

[zman007007]

Just wondering why would you put pure antifreeze in a radiator that is already froze, and already a full radiator? Just apply some slow heat and let it thaw out. One more thing was someone said check the mixture on it, it shouldn"t have froze in the first place I would think if it was mixed right. One more thing, I also mix my anti-freeze here in the South 50-50 and never had a problem with it, and I know it gets a lot colder up North. Not trying to sound like a smart alec, just wondering? zman

 

[Don87]

Just wondering why would you put pure antifreeze in a radiator that is already froze, and already a full radiator? Just apply some slow heat and let it thaw out. One more thing was someone said check the mixture on it, it shouldn"t have froze in the first place I would think if it was mixed right. One more thing, I also mix my anti-freeze here in the South 50-50 and never had a problem with it, and I know it gets a lot colder up North. Not trying to sound like a smart alec, just wondering? zman

The theory is to thaw it out slowly by using antifreeze on the ice.

I'm from the north........we always use antifreeze............but Al Gore said global warming was coming...........so eveyone used water in the radiator?:laughing::laughing::laughing:

And to those on here that that live in Australia that were affected by Al's global warming............I really do feel for you...........but elections have consequences.

The USA better wake up also.

 

[banjodunn]

Ahhhh so now i know who to blame, here was me thinking it was mother nature to blame for our floods and fires, and all along it was Al Gore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:laughing::laughing::laughing:


Jon

 

[VitaBene]

Back when I was a landscape contractor, we had 2 80's Kubotas, an L2250 and an L2850. My partner (not mechanical) was going from site to site aerating with the 2250 and a Ryan LA72 and apparently was low on coolant. He filled it with water and it froze. I recall replacing the radiator (it was leaking anyway and ultimately was why the coolant was low), but the real issue was the freeze plugs got pushed out all over the engine. I had to tear the engine pretty far down to reinsert on plug, but there were no other issues. We ran it for another 800 hours before selling the business.

Hopefully you will have the same luck!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Pure antifreeze will actually freeze at a much higher temperature than 60/40 which if my memory serves (most times it doesnt) is the maximum ratio that you can make with ethylene glycol for freeze protection. At this ratio the protection is about -60C and starts to rise again as the ratio is increased all the way to about -10C with pure antifreeze. 50/50 mix is just about as good as 60/40 so that is the recommended ratio.
I suppose a good reason to test the mix is to determine if the mixture froze solid at 20F or just slushed up which would not harm anything. By getting the % glycol you can determine the freeze point.

 

[grsthegreat]

back when i was young and stupid..... as opposed to now when im older and stupider... i thought if 50:50 antifreeze was good, 100% antifreeze should be better. i froze the radiator on my Chevy luv pickup when i lived in Montana.

oops.

didnt realize pure antifreeze freezes up easier then a mix.

 

[jonyyuma]

I had a friend that thought straight coolant was better too..Till his caught fire from an engine leak...