Anti Freeze WARNING

[Gary406]

hello all,

just want to remind every1 make sure you have anti freeze in your car, a friend started her vauxhall corsa other day that she bought only a few months ago , she didnt know there was no anti freeze in the coolant system

it went SPLUTTER SPLUTTER BANG BANG then Stalled, all the pipes were solid froze ,

car knackered now ,,,all teeth on timing belt have been shreaded off

i know you all probably know but make sure you have plenty anti freeze in cos its not nice when that happens

[teamster1975]

Had same happen with my brothers wife's car last year. They were semi lucky though, the fins on the water pump impeller shattered but the belt stayed intact!

[FarmerPug]

Isnt diesels a bit more resilient to this?
But i know what problems it can cause because its what killed my fiat, no antifreeze which cracked the block close to the headgasket.
How do i check antifreeze, i have some straw thing with balls in it, but i dont know how it works, is it ok just to dip white paper in to check the water is blue?

[steve_earwig]

BLue? That'll tell you everything See if you can get to grip with your straw and balls but if you don't know it's best to change it.

[Gary406]

i changed my radiotor a few months back and used 2 litres of anti freeze, my new radiatior has a valve type tap at the bottom, maybe yours has this ?

open it and catch a bit in a cup , check if its blue or orange,

ive just bought 2 litres of asda anti freeze today cost me £5 a small price to pay, i plan to empty 2 litres out my system 2moro and fill it back up with the new stuff

peice of mind

[FarmerPug]

i got the local mechanic to do the antifreeze when the car was left in for the mot check.

[steve_earwig]

That's peace of mind, unless you opted for the lobotomy

[Busman]

Buy an antifreeze tester, they cost £5-£10 and save your engine.

[sirwiggum]

Buy an antifreeze tester, they cost £5-£10 and save your engine.

My anti-freeze got 5 balls.

[DaiRees]

When I was a stoodint I had a fiat uno with a very weak mixture (had been maintained by my dad ). Nearly lost that one cold day due to freezing up the water in the rad on a dual carriageway, water temp goes up to the red, had to slow down until it melted and started to flow again, the happy speed was about 35 Needless to say I got off the fast road PDQ.

Remember the good old days when people used to cover the radiator grille with cardboard?

[steve_earwig]

My first BT van was one of those Commer 15cwt things (based on a Hillman Hunter), it leaked all fluids like a sieve but I got so fed up with going to the garage to fill the rad up I filled it up with tap water instead. When it froze I didn't care about it overheating (hey, if it blew up I'd spend a morning in the relative warm of the garage swapping my gear onto a reserve van) it's just when you're out in the cold doing fiddley stuff with wires having a heater that only blows cold air at you is a bit of a bastard.

[teamster1975]

Remember the good old days when people used to cover the radiator grille with cardboard?

Yep, that'll be my old Fiat Uno bless it
When I bought the tubby it must have been run dry at some point, the amount of rad weld I fed into it to nurse it along until I could fix it all! Everything was fecked to do with cooling bar the pump. Rad, hoses, fans, thermostat & o-ring you name it! It's a miracle the head gasket didn't blow!

[FarmerPug]

another ex fiat owner.

[plod]

Buy an antifreeze tester, they cost £5-£10 and save your engine.

My anti-freeze got 5 balls.

Been worrying about mine, and mentioned it to my mate the mechanic
He said bring it round i've got a couple of litres going begging
I said, don't I need to know which colour it is?
So, I went to check, and whilst looking, someone else pulled up, and said, i've got a tester in me van
Checked the coolant, and It showed 5 balls also, which on his gauge was good for -46

[FarmerPug]

ill need to get one of these antifreeze testers. What happened the tyre pressure gagues we ordered earlier in the year, i never got one.