I'm an idiot...I think it froze

[jayro]

Okay. So I haven't touched my track sho since this summer. It's just been sitting in the detached garage. It completely slipped my mind that it didn't have anti-freeze in it (I run water and Water Wetter at the track). I went out today with a jug of full streangth hoping that I caught it soon enough. Everything looked fine and the radiator drained like normal. I poured in the antifreeze and started it up to mix it all together. Well, the temp kept rising and the radiator boiled over. The top hose was hot and the bottom hose wasn't. Squeezed the bottom hose and it felt like a slushy.

I am gonna run the heat in the garage overnight to try and thaw everything out. Then start it up agian tomorrow. Is there anything particular I should keep an eye on? Both the freeze plugs look fine with no leaks. The radiator is dry at all the seams. I am hoping that just the bottom hose was frozen. Thoughts?

On a positive note, I had parked it because it started thowing cam sensor codes at the track last year and got to the point where the CEL would come on and it would miss at idle.. Replacing the cam sensor did nothing, so I sourced a DIS and coil pack from a member here. Put the DIS on and it appears to have fixed the cam CEL code.....idled great while i was warming it up.

 

[mrecoolgar]

May be froze...
But trapped air will also cause this.
Massage the lower hose to burp it.
Also reving the engine works to disipate the trapped air.

 

[jayro]

May be froze...
But trapped air will also cause this.
Massage the lower hose to burp it.
Also reving the engine works to disipate the trapped air.

Thanks. I will check for trapped air to be be safe.

 

[TimboSHO]

Both the freeze plugs look fine with no leaks.

On a positive note, I had parked it because it started thowing cam sensor codes at the track last year and got to the point where the CEL would come on and it would miss at idle.. Replacing the cam sensor did nothing, so I sourced a DIS and coil pack from a member here. Put the DIS on and it appears to have fixed the cam CEL code.....idled great while i was warming it up.

You do know there are more than 2 freeze plugs, right? There are 1 or 2 on the transmission side of the block, as well as under the timing cover, and about 3 on the front and 3 on the rear of the block. It looks like you caught it before something serious happened. FWIW, I ran 50/50 and water wetter in the 90 on the track and the temp never got above the 'm'.

Good to hear you solved the CEL problem, I know you have been scratching your head on that for awhile!

 

[kevinspann]

It's probably frozen enough that water couldn't circulate. I'd try to run the car a few times (not overheat it, but at least get some heat in it) to see if it melts enough. Pull the upper and lower hoses to see if they are solid. What temps have you had?

 

[yamahaSHO]

Hopefully you didn't crack the block or heads.

 

[rubydist]

the freeze plugs are not really "freeze protection" they are simply the places where the casting cores were supported. that means that the freeze plugs may look fine and you may still have cracked a head or cylinder wall.

you need to watch it very carefully when you start it again - watch for signs of coolant getting into the oil or into the combustion chamber.

I've never had this experience on a SHO motor, so I don't know how robust it is against freezing. Some engines will take a pretty hard freeze and still be okay. Some other engines will be cracked by the time the water gets slushy. Best wishes.

 

[boat]

I'm about 15-20 minutes from him. We've had a temp this morning of -4 F, with a windchill of -19. Other nights in the single digits. It's been ugly cold for the last 4-5 nights.

It's probably frozen enough that water couldn't circulate. I'd try to run the car a few times (not overheat it, but at least get some heat in it) to see if it melts enough. Pull the upper and lower hoses to see if they are solid. What temps have you had?

Sorry to hear about your "oops". Hopefully, nothing serious happened to your motor.

 

[jayro]

You do know there are more than 2 freeze plugs, right? There are 1 or 2 on the transmission side of the block, as well as under the timing cover, and about 3 on the front and 3 on the rear of the block. It looks like you caught it before something serious happened. FWIW, I ran 50/50 and water wetter in the 90 on the track and the temp never got above the 'm'.

Good to hear you solved the CEL problem, I know you have been scratching your head on that for awhile!

Yeah, I just looked at the ones I could see and inspected the block after running it. The block and radiator seams were completely dry. It appeared that the coolant that ended up on the floor came from the radiator cap/overflow bottle area.

Running 50/50 at the track would have probably been fine. It didn't look like you were having any overheating issues as you were disapearing from my rear view mirror.........burn!!!

I'm about 15-20 minutes from him. We've had a temp this morning of -4 F, with a windchill of -19. Other nights in the single digits. It's been ugly cold for the last 4-5 nights.

Sorry to hear about your "oops". Hopefully, nothing serious happened to your motor.

Yes, it's been pretty cold the past 4-5 night. Prior to that it hadn't spent alot of time consistantly below freezing. If it had been sitting outside I think it would have been completely frozen. Hoping that having it parked in the garage out back saved it.