made a mistake.. how do i go about rectifying it before i do something bad?

[Eldorado]

hey hey..
I had my coolant system flushed this summer, and i decided to just run water through the system for the rest of the summer.. no problems, kept the car nice and cool (as it ever was)..

well, me and my boneheadedness forgot to add antifreeze before the temps around here got to below freezing, and the car has been parked for coming up 2 weeks, the last week of which has been sub zero weather...

It's supposed to get up to about +12 C in the next couple of days so it'll be well above freezing - good enough for me to add my antifreeze.... but my question is, could there be any possible damage done to any of the lines in the car at this point?

keeping in mind the car sat for almost a week before the temps dipped, so lots of time for most of the hoses to empty out...

[toolboy62]

Ai-yi-yi!

You are not going to like my answer to your questions...

best case scenario: no damage to anything.

worst case scenario: anything that contains water could have burst or cracked, including the radiator, oil cooler, or the engine block. Also be aware that you may have or be about to blow some core plugs so make sure that the engine will hold water before going for a drive.

I realize this probably sounds like me kicking you in the nuts after you're already laying on the ground, but leaving a car outside with water in the radiator is REALLY FRIGGIN' STUPID and I sincerely hope for your sake that you aren't about to learn an expen$ive lesson.

Definitely monitor the car very closely for any signs of "mayonnaise" in the oil for the next couple thousand miles. If you see any, it should be investigated immediately before the whole thing is scrap.

good luck,

nate

[Eldorado]

any suggestions on type of coolant antifreeze to use?
there are a couple kinds out there... can i go wrong?

[toolboy62]

I've heard two opinions... one local shop likes the Pentosin phosphate-free stuff; the other says green Prestone is fine and anything more expensive is a waste of money. So you pays your money and takes your pick.

The shop that recommends the Prestone is actually the more "upscale" of the two; they work on only Porsches while the other shop's clientele is mostly older VWs with a smattering of Audis and the like. Go figure.

nate

[Eldorado]

i guess anything is better than nothing at this point - right? lol

[zehnd]

Wow, I have nothing to contribute other than getting your vehicle (towed) in a heated garage asap.

[AA_Ezra]

Hayens manual says to use phosephate free coolant because you have an aluminumb block i'm assuming that the phosephates or whatever else in the otehr coolant eat's at the aluminumb components of you're engine. I use the phosphate free stuff u can get at autozone it's a clear liquid and the brand is Zerex i think. Previous owner looked like he put the Green stuff wich is not phosephate free. and When i did all the heatign and cooling system hoses. Some of the metals were corroded.

[Eldorado]

well considering the weather wasn't *too* cold out there the last week or so (only about -5C)... I went out tonite praying to the porsche gods, and my prayers were answered.

I popped the lid on the resevoir and syphoned some of the liquid out into a measuring cup and it was still tinted slightly green.... nothing was frozen.... i added in some pure antifreeze, started 'er right up and she ran perfectly...

after about 15 mins i took a gander under the car (again while praying) and no leaks to be seen...

I'm sorry if i took some good porsche karma away from someone else on this board! lol

[toolboy62]

check your oil. if it's clear and there's no evidence of oil in the water or water in the oil breathe a big sigh of relief and be very very happy.

sometimes ya get lucky. Just accept it and move on

nate

[toolboy62]

oh yeah you really ought to get a proper 50/50 mix in there, don't count on getting lucky twice.

nate

[Eldorado]

I know tool... (about the mix)

a 50/50 mix would be good for 40 below.... and it's only 5 or 6 below at this point... I'm good for a little while yet.. but i was spooked enough this time to not forget about it!

checked the coolant - no signs of oil... and i let the motor cool and pulled the dipstick.... clear as day (well, as "clear" as oil can be anyway.. lol)

[Zero10]

Given that you're in canada, I reccomend you go 60%antifreeze/40%water, just incase we get a really cold snap.
Since you weren't _that_ far below freezing, I'd imagine you are okay, and it sounds like you are.
Stick to phosphate free anti-freezes. If they don't say it, they aren't. If they aren't, bad things happen.
That said, I usually use Prestone yellow, or Celcius green, but that last one may be a local brand. I get it at Auto Value if that helps at all.

[Eldorado]

hey Zero, being in southern ontario, it's rare that the temps here even hit -25, -30 (not counting the windchill, of course)..... with windchill, it could get up to about -35 *maybe*... but that's on REALLY bad days (MAYBE one like that every year or two...

my father gave me a brilliant idea earlier.... he said that back when he was younger he had a car that didn't have a block heater in it (he lived in Sudbury - about 4ish hours north... -40 was a regular occurance..... if u spit, it literally froze by the time it hit the ground - u could pick up ur little frozen spit bubble..

anyway, he had a 200W lightbulb that he just set under the hood of his car and had turned on on the really cold days... it was enough to keep the car at a good temp, and because it's an enclosed space it retained the heat under there quite well...

[VINMAN]

I use the Sierra (envoirmentally friendly stuff). never any problem with it.

[pokey]

Man, the P gods smiled on you! Now you must appease them by shipping me your 944.

[ae1969]

How in the world did you run with just water in the system?

It would of overheated in no time......... but thats another story.

VW makes an aluminum safe antifreeze at 1/4 the price of the porsche stuff........ but honestly........ the prestone (safe for aluminum) is what I am using now. You can find it at any crappy tire store...

Uhmm some lines could of burst......but we will find out when you start it.

[Eldorado]

i already started it and let it run for a good 15 / 20 mins.... no problems

Alex, there's no problems with running with just water... you can, provided it's warm enough outside.

[Zero10]

Haha, I've used many lightbulbs before, used ceramic heaters, etc. I've gone to extreme measures to keep engines from freezing.
Which is why my 951 is getting 70% antifreeze 30% water. The cooling ability is secondary, not freezing at -45*C is primary.

I guess you're right, it doesn't get as cold there. You should be fine with 50/50, since even at -40*C it only turns to slush. You wouldn't want to start your car, but nothing will explode.

VW G11 (I think) is phosphate-free, if memory serves me, this is the VW/Audi blue that people are speaking of. There was a big anti-freeze competition on Rennlist a while ago, and it won, for what that's worth. I am re-filling mine with celcius cheap-o antifreeze right now, and for the winter, but only because there is oil in the system (had the head off) and I don't have time to flush it. However, next spring I will be using VW/Audi blue.

[Eldorado]

oh i'm just using the generic Petro Canada brand for now.. as i said previously, it's better than just water for the winter months..

i'll use that until i get around to being able to flush it out myself...

[Dave L]

Originally posted by ae1969
How in the world did you run with just water in the system?

It would of overheated in no time......... but thats another story.

When I blew a hose I ran water for about a week in the fall, no adverse effects and it ran in the middle of the temp guage. I was also terrified about it freezing so I had it changed to phosphate free as soon as I was certain there were no leaks.

Be sure to use coolant that is phosphate free, if not at the very least get the aluminum safe coolant.