CWLONGSHOT Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Yup.. Here in CT we had a real drop in the temps last night. When I go up the temp was 1 degree, throw in a mild wind chill and that brings it down near 15-20 BELOW!!! Well... some months back I changed out the entire cooling system. EVERYTHING all new top to bottom. Well, I try to keep common stuff on hand here so I buy filters, brake fluid, washer fluid, anti Freeze, windshield wipers etc. When ever it goes on sale and keep a couple bottles of each on hand. I grabbed a bottle on the shelf and all I can think of is that I must have PREVIOUSLY mixed 50-50 and mixed it 50-50 AGAIN. DUMB @$$!!!! WELL, at 15-20 below it FROZE!!!!! @ 05:30 I started the MJ up and let it warm for about 5-7 Min's. Jumped in and off I went. I drive all back roads to work and its less then ten miles. Half way thru, I realize its not getting warm, OH well..it is REAL cold. I just figured its going to take a bit longer to warm up. Another mile and still no heat. I glance at the temp gauge... its 240!!!! :eek: :eek: WTF!!! I go another mile and now I am with in 1/2 mile of work. I figure the maybe the gauge is wrong or the thermostat stuck.... NOT... All of a sudden, BOOOM, steam everywhere!!! Looked like a nascar blow out!!! Two hundred yards to the garage at the bottom of the hill from work. I pop the hood and sure enough, the front/top HEATER hose split. (Not radiator, heater) No biggie... I grab my gear and walk the remainder up the hill to the Hospital. MAN IS IT COLD in the thin lousy uniforms we have to wear!!!! A couple hours later, at coffee break, we run down and get the MJ and bring it up to our heated garage and put it inside for a thawing out. I run down for parts. A new T-stat, anti freeze, a gasket, piece of 90degree bent 3/4" hose, some oil and a filter. Our grounds guy fixes it for me while I am working. (Not to much for these guys to do grounds wise in the winter. But sand, salt the walks and plow the snow) He also checked out the T-stat, said it worked fine, opened nicely in a pot of water, on the wood stove in the barn. The guy even washed off all the nasty sticky anti freeze off the engine and fenders of the Jeep!! Gonna bring him a case of Sam in the morning, he EARNED IT. SO, long story short... I LUCKED OUT!! Looks like nothing seriously harmed but that hose and a bit of lost antifreeze. Just a little story about my day... Thanks for reading, I know your laughing WITH me, CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Yup.. Here in CT we had a real drop in the temps last night. When I go up the temp was 1 degree, throw in a mild wind chill and that brings it down near 15-20 BELOW!!! Well... some months back I changed out the entire cooling system. EVERYTHING all new top to bottom. Well, I try to keep common stuff on hand here so I buy filters, brake fluid, washer fluid, anti Freeze, windshield wipers etc. When ever it goes on sale and keep a couple bottles of each on hand. I grabbed a bottle on the shelf and all I can think of is that I must have PREVIOUSLY mixed 50-50 and mixed it 50-50 AGAIN. DUMB @$$!!!! WELL, at 15-20 below it FROZE!!!!! @ 05:30 I started the MJ up and let it warm for about 5-7 Min's. Jumped in and off I went. I drive all back roads to work and its less then ten miles. Half way thru, I realize its not getting warm, OH well..it is REAL cold. I just figured its going to take a bit longer to warm up. Another mile and still no heat. I glance at the temp gauge... its 240!!!! :eek: :eek: WTF!!! I go another mile and now I am with in 1/2 mile of work. I figure the maybe the gauge is wrong or the thermostat stuck.... NOT... All of a sudden, BOOOM, steam everywhere!!! Looked like a nascar blow out!!! Two hundred yards to the garage at the bottom of the hill from work. I pop the hood and sure enough, the front/top HEATER hose split. (Not radiator, heater) No biggie... I grab my gear and walk the remainder up the hill to the Hospital. MAN IS IT COLD in the thin lousy uniforms we have to wear!!!! A couple hours later, at coffee break, we run down and get the MJ and bring it up to our heated garage and put it inside for a thawing out. I run down for parts. A new T-stat, anti freeze, a gasket, piece of 90degree bent 3/4" hose, some oil and a filter. Our grounds guy fixes it for me while I am working. (Not to much for these guys to do grounds wise in the winter. But sand, salt the walks and plow the snow) He also checked out the T-stat, said it worked fine, opened nicely in a pot of water, on the wood stove in the barn. The guy even washed off all the nasty sticky anti freeze off the engine and fenders of the Jeep!! Gonna bring him a case of Sam in the morning, he EARNED IT. SO, long story short... I LUCKED OUT!! Looks like nothing seriously harmed but that hose and a bit of lost antifreeze. Just a little story about my day... Thanks for reading, I know your laughing WITH me, CW Ah CW, you have made my WEEK!. The temp has been in the twenties at night since New Years Eve, and even went to the ungodly depth of 18* last night in N. 'Bama, and will be about the same tonight. Thanks for sharing your frigid experience, and may I never forget the good old days. Don, Rockville, CT High School, Class of 1968 :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 You gotta love the cold weather... It was -2 degrees here this morning. My 8 year old Optima has no problem spinning over the engine. It doesn't crank any slower now then it does on a warm day. My coolant is good to -30 degrees :brows: I never did check the MJ Pat sold me... I'm swapping in a '95 4.0HO so I'm not too concerned. I checked the wifes tires tonight and they were all about 10psi low because of the cold weather. They did have a pretty good footprint when they were low. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twisty Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Its -12 here with no wind. I bet it'll be down to -20 by sunrise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Its -12 here with no wind. I bet it'll be down to -20 by sunrise. really? I'm in NH and its not that cold more like zero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I've seen that before. I've also seen destroyed blocks from it. You definatly lucked out. You guys don't know cold. Although it actually hasn't been bad (yet) this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 oh trust me we know cold. zero degrees dosent faze me. its just a little chilly for now. when it gets into the negative teens its cold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhorocks Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 wow, it was in the 30-40s last night for me....... I love arizona when i hear these stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twisty Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 I've seen that before. I've also seen destroyed blocks from it. You definatly lucked out. You guys don't know cold. Although it actually hasn't been bad (yet) this winter. I was wondering if that was a possible outcome of freezing coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Let's not confuse the issues here. If the coolant freezes in the water jacket, you are going to have some major damage. Lucking out in this case would be just the freeze plugs blowing out. In this case the high coolant temperature was a good sign. He matched the protection level to the overnight temperature because the exposed hose froze, hence plugging the system until the pressure built up and split the hose. A couple more degrees or couple more hours could have frozen the block. Has anyone every seen frozen weak coolant? Does only the water starts to freeze resulting in more concentrated coolant. If this is the case, a layer of frost would line the water jacket, which would help protect from more freezing and generally slows the process. Of course the radiator will be toast by this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 oh trust me we know cold. zero degrees dosent faze me. its just a little chilly for now. when it gets into the negative teens its cold ;) How's about the negative 30's? I grew up north of you in PEI.....you don't get temps as cold as we get out here, but you get the wind which we don;t....all evens out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpdriver1 Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 wow, it was in the 30-40s last night for me....... I love arizona when i hear these stories. x2 here in vegas :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 oh trust me we know cold. zero degrees dosent faze me. its just a little chilly for now. when it gets into the negative teens its cold ;) How's about the negative 30's? I grew up north of you in PEI.....you don't get temps as cold as we get out here, but you get the wind which we don;t....all evens out. PEI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 oh trust me we know cold. zero degrees dosent faze me. its just a little chilly for now. when it gets into the negative teens its cold ;) How's about the negative 30's? I grew up north of you in PEI.....you don't get temps as cold as we get out here, but you get the wind which we don;t....all evens out. PEI? Prince Edward Island. It's been -41 here the one day this winter. With a bunch of -20s to -30s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twisty Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 oh trust me we know cold. zero degrees dosent faze me. its just a little chilly for now. when it gets into the negative teens its cold ;) How's about the negative 30's? I grew up north of you in PEI.....you don't get temps as cold as we get out here, but you get the wind which we don;t....all evens out. PEI? Prince Edward Island. It's been -41 here the one day this winter. With a bunch of -20s to -30s. Is that Celsius or Fahrenheit? -40 is the temp at which C and F are the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 It's both! It doesn't matter, the other measurements were C, but you get the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 -20C is -4F so yeah thats pretty cold. i do know how you feel but just not for the -40. what do yall use to heat your house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted January 5, 2008 Author Share Posted January 5, 2008 Yup, I was WAY LUCKY!! I haven't gotten under and looked at the motor...but like others have said, i have seen freeze plugs blown out as well. I do not think it was a block of ice. As pointed out I had a temp reading and it changed. I think I had a "slushy" blockage in my radiator or heater core...or both!! I had some anti freeze in there, that's for absolutely certain. I just finished checking the wives and the TJ's before winter set in and topped mine off. I remember how nice a green it was.... I also remember topping it off with straight distilled water, not a mix. But If I added a quart doing that it would be allot. Lesson learned, hopefully I have prevented one of you guys a worse fate!! Get your self a tester, its cheap and could save your engine!!! CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 Yup, I was WAY LUCKY!! I haven't gotten under and looked at the motor...but like others have said, i have seen freeze plugs blown out as well. I do not think it was a block of ice. As pointed out I had a temp reading and it changed. I think I had a "slushy" blockage in my radiator or heater core...or both!! I had some anti freeze in there, that's for absolutely certain. I just finished checking the wives and the TJ's before winter set in and topped mine off. I remember how nice a green it was.... I also remember topping it off with straight distilled water, not a mix. But If I added a quart doing that it would be allot. Lesson learned, hopefully I have prevented one of you guys a worse fate!! Get your self a tester, its cheap and could save your engine!!! CW I have always wondered how those things work.. Isn't that the little tube with a bulb that has the little balls that float to tell you the mix?? Is it one of those density values that make'em float?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ifixit8 Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 It's been cold by me too. not sure how cold, but enough to cause a lifter nock at start up. I am just glad that I haven't had anything happen like this. and I can't wait till it gets warmer again. we are suppost to see the lower 40's soon. that will be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 -20C is -4F so yeah thats pretty cold. i do know how you feel but just not for the -40. what do yall use to heat your house? Electric... I don't pay for it, so it's all good. Most places that people actually care about not going broke have a wood stove to at least cut down the electric/gas bill. Here I pay flat rate on my rent, so it doesn't matter. I also plug my dodge in because my coolant mix is borderline at -40. That and diesels HATE cold. Like I said, I've seen a few wrecked blocks. It only takes a couple degrees the wrong way to cause major problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenosha Warrior Posted January 5, 2008 Share Posted January 5, 2008 yeah.. even where I live, an hour'half north of Rochester as the crow flies, we can get to -20-30 celcius. but its around -5 cel. with the windchill right now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxRacing282 Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 -20C is -4F so yeah thats pretty cold. i do know how you feel but just not for the -40. what do yall use to heat your house? Electric... I don't pay for it, so it's all good. Most places that people actually care about not going broke have a wood stove to at least cut down the electric/gas bill. Here I pay flat rate on my rent, so it doesn't matter. I also plug my dodge in because my coolant mix is borderline at -40. That and diesels HATE cold. Like I said, I've seen a few wrecked blocks. It only takes a couple degrees the wrong way to cause major problems. lucky you i got a space heater in my room now, keeps it at about 66F like 22C or something along those numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 Here is a couple pics of the burst hose and reapired cooling system... Not alot to see.... Juat glad it wasn't worse!! OH, Just for the record... Today, its 51 degrees here in my back yard today. :roll: :D CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Late post, but I think they're the same at -30, isn't it? Anyway, we had a string of -40 and below days, with wind chills on top here at the end of January. The Cummins Dodge wasn't happy bout going, even when plugged in. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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