Drove into town this morning with no heat coming through the vents but my temp gauge started climbing past 190* which it never does. Got up to about 220 or so right as I pulled into work. Popped the hood and checked for leaks underneath and found nothing. Squeezed the top radiator hose and it was warm with no ice or slush. Checked the radiator cap and it had coolant on it and around it where it had boiled over. Apparently no flow all the way through the engine b/c heater core didn't get hot to blow heat through the vents. Didn't have as much antifreeze in it as I should have, but I don't know that it should have done this. Anybody got any ideas what the odds of it being froze in the radiator vs. froze in the block? Any help or ideas will help. Going to plug it in on my lunch break and hope for the best when I get off. Haven't checked fluids yet to see if they mixed either.

Thanks,

Rodney

 

No chance you just have a clogged heater core? That can be fairly common in other applications.

One thing is for sure, you need to get it somewhere with some heat for a while and get the antifreeze totally drained and replaced with the right mix.

 

Check for swollen freeze plugs too.

 

Sounds more likely that your thermostat would be stuck shut to me, Not allowing coolant through to the heater core and causing hot engine temps.

If it did freeze you likely have bigger issues though, I hope not!

First thing would be check the oil before you drive it again and make sure you don't have water in your oil.

When was the last time you checked your antifreeze strength?

 

what was your temperature overnight?
I'd kinda bet that, depening on the outside temperature, your truck should thaw itsself based on the amount of heat you pumped into your block while driving. I'd folllow the other recommendation on checking you frost plugs ect. If that doesn't work, get yourself into a heated shop-or for free, you can take it to your local car wash & "washs" your truck till it thaws. When its really cold, the washbays are usually empyt & the owners don't really mind if you park in there for a couple hours.

 

Check your engine cooling fan to make sure it's not seized. If it's engaged all the time on the hi way in cool temps it will cause the thermostat to close, then the coolant in only the block boils quickly and the thermostat opens rapidly. This causes a pressure rise and the coolant to spill out the overflow bottle. Cause it could be a bad thermostat.

 

If this guy is not getting heat inside the cab-then either there is no coolant being pumped thru the heater core, the blend door is screwed up, or there is no heat in the coolant. If the engine is overheating & the radiator is puking out coolant, then it is suspect that the coolant level inside the block is quite low.....boiling the coolant & letting the pressure from the gas open up the thermostat causing a surge to go to the rad.

I'd think that if you are frozen up, then with that amount of heat inside the cast iron, you will be thawed soon. Like Tool said-check your oil for coolant. its got to be going somewhere.

 

The temperate in Cynthia, KY was 9 degrees last night. Without the proper antifreeze level the smaller diameter & lower areas are frozen solid. Lets hope ice did not break your block, water pump impeller, thermostat, ect.

Get the proper amount of antifreeze in your truck, 50/50 mix and don't do that again!

 

You should be plugging it in below 40F.

 

Quicker responses than I expected. Thanks for that. I plugged it in at lunch and will check fluids when I get off. It was about 0* today this morning. We had a day like that last week with a lot more wind than this time and I had no problems. Not sure what's going on. I know stuff can be faulty from day one but I had the heater core replaced five months ago and bought a new thermostat about three months ago. After checking the fluids, I will attempt to drive it home and put it in the garage with the space heater on the radiator. I'll also check the thermostat. I still have the old one as there was nothing wrong with it like I originally thought when I changed it. In fact, I had too much antifreeze in the mix then, which was causing it to get warm. Of course I was fed up so I got as much out as I could and put water back in it. No clue on the strength of the antifreeze. My petcock is froze up and has been for years so I can't drain it that way. My clamp on the bottom radiator hose is unaccessable. As silly as it sounds, I just used a syphon down the side of the radiator to empy it as best as possible when I readjusted the mix last. Any other ideas will be greatly appreciated. I hate the thought of what bad things could be going on. I'm just hoping that for once, I will get lucky with this and just have to thaw it out and remix the coolant.

Thanks,

Rodney

 

Every other year, I have. Just got lazy this time I guess. See what that gets me.

 

Just jumping in here a little late,,but too strong of antifreeze will not cause engine to heat,, also the thermostat does not hold the water back from the heater core. The coolant warms up and starts going into heater core before the thermostat opens.

 

I just re read your post, you say "Didn't have as much antifreeze in it as I should have" when I first read it I thought QTY, but do you mean "Percentage". If your mixture was not at least -40 then your rad could freeze on the hiway and give exactly what you describe. I would still ck your cooling fan though, it just needs to be smooth to turn by hand without the engine running. As for the no heat in the core, once it blows off the first time the coolant level drops and theres not enough for the heater core.

 

I'd guess your coolant level was low enough the cooling juices didn't get to the thermostat so it could get hot and open.

Check all you fluids to be sure you didn't break something. If they all seem fine, top up the radiator with antifreeze and add some to the overflow bottle. After you drive a couple of miles you should see the temp guage start to come off the bottom, then just keep an eye on it. You no doubt have some air in the cooling system and it will need to be burped!

 

This actually happened to me in a 1966 Chevy truck. The Radiator core froze up going down the road, with a 50-50 mix!

It was bloody cold and I was fighting a headwind. Took it home, thawed the radiator and put a piece of cardboard to block some of the opening and it was OK.

Not likely your block is hurt, neither is radiator with any luck.

BTW, 70 percent Antifreeze gives the lowest temperature protection, and will not cause any engine to overheat.