Another option is to put a little buddy under it.
Put a tarp on it to hold some heat in.
i would only try to heat it up, don't remove anything.
That way you can see it it springs a leak.
More bad news, typically there are also freeze plugs located on the rear and front of the engine. If the engine gets too cold and freezes the expanding ice tends to push them out of the block. The good news is it might save the block. The bad is you may have to pull the engine too reinstall freeze plugs.
The real bad news is you may not know that you are truly screwed until until u reinstall those dam plugs and try to put coolant into the engine. Don't forget the ones on the rear of the engine!
Hell that might be why I'm in SoCal, I knew it was something.
Good luck

 

I bet .00001 bitcoin the block heater melts all the ice, given a day or so. Water is a great thermal conductor. Once melted look for drips. To be extra cautious you could pull the oil drain plug and see if any water comes out. Then I'd just start it, check for leaks while running, and give it a test drive.

 

Well, I've got a blanket, two space heaters, and a tarp goin on the truck right now. Hopefully I can get it thawed out today, and see how it looks when I wake up this afternoon.

I've got a remote sensor for the household thermometer in the topside of the engine bay, and it's been steady around 100-110° the last 30 min or so.

Assuming all the ice is cleared this afternoon, and there's no catastrophic failures... Is there an issue with me draining out some coolant to make room, and just pouring in a half gallon or so of antifreeze concentrate, and running it a minute to mix it in?

I realize I would still need to do a correct flush and fill, and I'll be doing it this weekend. But I'd like to avoid it freezing solid again before this weekend, or having to keep space heaters on it 24-7.

Thanks y'all. I'm goin to bed, lol.

 

 

if the block heater was plugged in all night I would start the truck and let it run with the hood and grill covered until it come close to operating temp. that would distribute the heat through the block and you would have more heat under the hood to thaw out the degaus bottle.
then when you get up start it again and bring up to temp and check flow through radiator if flowing drain radiator add antifreeze and bring up to temp and check for leaks. (even if it is leaking it needs antifreeze in it until it is flushed) if all is good drive it to ensure antifreeze is thoroughly mixed through entire system.

 

We have to be careful not to sound like we're busting people's ***** on this stuff, tho I can't help but wonder "WTF were you thinking!?!?" I'd need sedation at this point if it were mine. Some problems of course are unavoidable - if it's got **** or tires, there's gonna be trouble, but this is not one of them.

Understood this can be a problem with boat engines every season and every now and then we'll read about an engine rebuilder who will carefully break in a new engine/cam on a test stand and then proceed to let the 100% water in the cooling system freeze.

People, anytime the cooling system isn't full of a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze hang a tag on the radiator cap stating so as a reminder. $5 worth of Prestone sure saves a lot of worry and aggravation. One overnight cold snap can basically turn a motor into scrap.

 

THAT STATEMENT IS WORTH IT'S WEIGHT IN GOLD!
I have had customers get mad at me when they were billed for anti freeze in the middle of summer because "it isn't going to freeze" too bad!! if I open a cooling system it will be protected to -35 even here in the desert southwest.

 

Keep your antifreeze in the warm (warmer the better) and if it was completely frozen, I'd take the bottom coolant hose off and pour heated coolant (or hot water if you are sure you can complete in one session) into the top of the radiator.

Best case, use hot water to mix into concentrated coolant and pour that into the radiator. If you thaw the radiator while heating around the engine, once the water pump and radiator are thawed, the rest should go quickly- especially if you have the block heater plugged in.

We've used propane heaters directly on heavy cast iron blocks, but you have to be very careful not to melt wires or set anything on fire. But that level of stuff is usually reserved for "out in the woods" frozen systems, LOL.

Check your radiator for leaks especially. Small, fragile passages in ageing aluminum. I was surprised how brittle my radiator was this summer when I tried to solder a leak. I replaced it. Use extra caution here.

BTW, it won't hurt to pour hot water on the outside of the radiator if you like. Whatever you think works for your situation and what you have to work with. Any way to connect a hose to hot water? Laundry sink, washer hot water valve, etc are good sources.

You do not want to run pressure into a frozen radiator, or risk popping it.

The radiator, when thawed, will gravity flow into the water pump and block, thawing as it goes

 

The last I heard it's really called anti-freeze/anti-boil and it raises the boiling point while it lowers the freezing point, That should mean more in the desert than it does in the frigid north.

 

Subscribed.

Frankly, I have never heard of frozen 'coolant' before this. Unless, someone decided that water is a good enough coolant to pour in the radiator, which is very common in tropical countries, I can't agree that 10 F temp for a couple of nights would freeze a good quality coolant. What other factors should one be careful about to avoid this from happening during such cold days? I had the coolant flushed and replaced in my EX with Rotella ELC. Should I watch for something specific before/after a startup? My EX isi usually parked outdoors at home and work and exposed to the elements.

 

 

Even the most inexpensive $1 Store antifreeze should provide adequate freeze protection when mixed at the correct ratio with water.

Quality Antifreeze/coolant also contains corrosion inhibitors and other additives, these are depleted in use and this is why antifreeze needs to be periodically replaced, and why you should always run some "antifreeze" regardless of temperature. The antifreeze characteristic itself does not degrade or expire with time so is not a factor for replacement interval.

 

Random reps sent!! Thanks all!

 

Going forward, consider sending the oil in for analysis at the next few changes. This will tell whether there there was any damage which let coolant leak into the oil. If this does happen, catching it quickly is the key.

 

not sure if OP has had any luck or progress but leaving the block heater in for 6+ hours (I usually leave it plugged in when parked incase I need the truck in a moments notice)and the block heater should be more then enough to warm up the coolant and distribute the heat through out the entire block, the warm coolant should also be able to make its way through the rad and provide heat there, and this is just leaving my truck parked and off.


Im not sure if OP stated if there block heater is working or not however...