Clivvy needs help!

[nenook]

rad probs

i put 88 dgr one in , but if yours are frozen then take care when emptying, perhaps put a fan heater under your engine before starting the emtying process, as i said earlier 12.00 for a new stat and 18.00 for the antifreeze been in the truck earlier and its cured, red af. long life,

 

[rustic]

Well I just tested my anti-freeze with the Lidl 99p antifreeze tester, and it goes to -40 C. By my calculations, it should be -39 C 50% mix

So well within the limits of error:thumb2

The Lidl instructions are not that clear, there is a small piece of white tubing at the bottom of the unit, you don't need this, it is used to push in the end of the tester as shown on the diagram, if required.
I think they use the same instructions for when they sell a battery tester.... (place in appropriate resevoir...)

When you sample the antifreeze, there will be bubbles on the hydrometer ( the stick), tap the unit until these float off, much easier to use than my last one.

To gain confidence with it, test tap water, it should remain at the bottom.
Wash it out thoroughly after use.

If you empty the radiator and header tank, flush if possible, but you will just be able to get 5 litres in of the concentrated antifreeze, giving 50% strength and protection down to -39 C :thumbs

I just placed my plywood over the top part of the grill this morning, it'll be there now til end of Feb.
It is behind the plastic grill, very neat, painted matt black.

I hope all is well with the engine and you were lucky enough to get it sorted.
Best regards, Rustic

 

[nenook]

rad cover

i like that idea of the plywood, its always the simple solution that escapes us , might give that a go, :thumbs

 

[clivvy]

i think everything is ok, at the end of the day temp didnt reach red, and i wasnt drivign hard, or for long, and the engine sounded the best its ever sounded lol

alli need, is for the coolant (or mostly water it would seem) to defrost. I have no access to anything that will aid me, im at work. The best I can do, is pull off the lower rad pipe and empty via that. At the moment, it just feels crunchy inside, but mosty fluid so it must be defrosting. with luck, ill come out of this a little bit better off.

 

[rustic]

i like that idea of the plywood, its always the simple solution that escapes us , might give that a go, :thumbs

If you remove the grill, 5 plastic screw headed clips, turn the outer 4 screws 45 degrees untill the square is hoizontal at the top, for the centre one you can see the clip, but can't access it as it is behind the Nissan/Ford badge, so push the top of the clip from the rad side and it should wiggle loose.
You may need to get under the clip to release the bottom of it.


My panel is 24" x 6" of 1/4" ply, with a rectangular cut out on the top to go around the centre fixing clip. The panel could be bigger of course, but that's what I had at the time in the shed.
I use the M6 tapped hole already in the centre vertical strut to fix it to.
1 m6 x 30mm bolt plus washer should sort it. I placed a small piece of foam between the ply and the vertical strip to stop any potential vibration.

Re fit the 4 plastic clips into the grill by gripping with pliers until they click into position, 45 Degrees turn and press lightly down, you will see the recess that the clip has to go in.
Then just push fit the whole panel making sure all 5 are secure.

Your heater will be fantastic, you may hear a different noise as you have changed the air flow around the fan.:thumb2

 

[nenook]

rad

you could boil a kettle soak a rag then wrap it around your pipes that will help
.loosen the ice

 

[nenook]

rad cover

thanks for the info il be going to BnQ to get a piece of plywood etc in a bit.

thanks again

 

[rustic]

i think everything is ok, at the end of the day temp didnt reach red, and i wasnt drivign hard, or for long, and the engine sounded the best its ever sounded lol

alli need, is for the coolant (or mostly water it would seem) to defrost. I have no access to anything that will aid me, im at work. The best I can do, is pull off the lower rad pipe and empty via that. At the moment, it just feels crunchy inside, but mosty fluid so it must be defrosting. with luck, ill come out of this a little bit better off.

If you can get some hot (not boiling) water to pass through the radiator before you fill with antifreeze, that will help.
Get your mates to help out when they get back from the pub at lunch time......:lol
Don't eat yellow snow, or blue snow for that matter, assuming you have any antifreeze in.
Well I won't tell you I told you so, but I did say that the Lidl anti-freeze testers were on Sale from yesterday....:doh


Oh I can just hear the tills going at Lidls now all over the country..

 

[clivvy]

If you can get some hot (not boiling) water to pass through the radiator before you fill with antifreeze, that will help.
Get your mates to help out when they get back from the pub at lunch time......:lol
Don't eat yellow snow, or blue snow for that matter, assuming you have any antifreeze in.
Well I won't tell you I told you so, but I did say that the Lidl anti-freeze testers were on Sale from yesterday....:doh


Oh I can just hear the tills going at Lidls now all over the country..

ill try adding some into the rad cap if i can. the overflow tank was liquid, no sign it had frozen, but definatley frozen inside the pipes...odd...

 

[rustic]

ill try adding some into the rad cap if i can. the overflow tank was liquid, no sign it had frozen, but definatley frozen inside the pipes...odd...

Your overflow tank may be liquid because before the water gushed out of the rad cap, it would have been steam heating the overflow pipe first.:nenau

 

[jims-terrano]

Hi clivvy, as we've already been in contact via text don't forget to give me a shout if you need a hand.

Jim

 

[makeitfit]

Not quite correct, the heater gets all the heat till the stat opens then it goes to the rad as well, so if you want a hotter heater use a higher temperature stat, Rick

Rats, I've got to change it back again now:doh
Anyway I now know what happens in thermostat land :thumbs
Cheers me dears

 

[danielj]

If the water has frozen is there a possibility of damage to the engine block or cracked head or something of that kind. Water in my expansion tank froze the other night although it didn't seem frozen in the pipes.

 

[Smegg]

civvys problem

hi mate; just an add on to all the good advice you;ve had; remove your rad and pressure bottle caps and use a heater [fan etc] to thaw it out dont drive it until you do; good luck.

 

[clivvy]

Guys, I'm sat in the car, and very shortly after starting, I had warm air via the vents, this is better than normal as usually I don't get warm air quickly at all. Haven't changed the coolant or thermostat yet as I want to warm the pipes up a bit, do you think it's ok, or should I wait to see if it exceeds normal operating temperature??

 

[zippy656]

um, take the rad cap off..

with engin OFF give the lower dar hose a good squese.. I THINK if the water you see in the top of the rad moves you hould be ok... but its only " I THINK" not 100%

 

[clivvy]

well, either way, im home. i thought "f*ck it" and went. it was fine. didnt pass 1/4 as usual, in fact, at somepoints it dropped a bit then went back to 1/4, so no overheating that sfor sure, and tons of hot air into the cab whihc i have never had before, not that warm anyway.

so what do you think?

ill certainly change the coolant this weekend, and probably the thermostat, but why is it BETTER now, than before? better as in i got hot air much sooner, MUCH sooner mind, and the temp gauge seemed ok and the car ran great (non of my usual IDLE ODDNESS)

I had a read of the Mazda club, and two of the guys there has similar experiences. One guy had a dodgy VRIS on his car, and with the cold snap, its started working again!

Could it be with mine, the frozen water has dislodged some sort of blockage or something?? or perhaps my thermostat wasnt working very well, and now it is??

very confused but actually quite pleased.

 

[jims-terrano]

Problem is that if it freezes again tonight is it going to do some damage this time? is it worth trying to get some antifreeze in to it tonight?

Jim

 

[solarman216]

Yes Jim is right you MUST get more anti freeze in now and run engine to mix it, it is already around -7 here and I do not need a thermometer to check, I unfroze our wash machine pipe today used machine had TD on and it discharges into the same shed half our after washing finished I thought I would take pipe off and drain it so do not have same prob tomorrow, too late froze solid, been here 6 years never had that before, Rick

 

[nenook]

clivvy's problem

hey up if youve got the new stat youre going to lose nowt by fitting it and changing the antifreeze , as when summer comes then youre sorted
:thumb2: