-16°C In Aberdeen Last Night

[ggcton]

Oh Boy it is cold.
Having read this posting I decided that I should check my GTL which is outside under a cover.
She started on the first try but after a bit the engine note changed and having read this post I switched of quick to check under the bonnet.
Sure enough the hoses were now half frozen and this despite new antifreeze in the summer ! Perhaps the garage did not use enough.
I have left the warm engine hopfully to warm the hoses through and I will start it every day.
It is booked into the village garage on the 5th of january for quite a bit of work so there will be a strong antifreeze mix going in then.
Does anyone know the max mix you should use I think it was 50/50 when renewed in July.
So all of you with your cars outside go and check them tomorrow even if they have antifreeze try the top hose for icing before you start and then you should know what to expect and possibly warm the engine bay gently before starting up.
Gary

 

[Bobble]

yep !!! was very very cold last night -14 here and the first time i had to use the cold start on my truck but no frozen or crunchy pipes even in the old R4 that's standing outside ( i've always used 50 /50 without any problem's so far ) it was nice when the sun came out ( pictures ) but still very cold and not looking forward to the trip to Herne Bay.

 

[Bobble]

is this record ?

 

[ggcton]

Hope the trip went well.
Good news no lasting damage fron the freeze up engine running sweet this morning.
Checked it had red antifreeze which I did not have in stock so up to the village garage for a top up.
I have read the 4 should use blue antifreeze so I will return to that when the radiator is changed in January.
Gary

 

[Bobble]

I don't think it makes a great deal of difference but i've always used blue right from my very first car ( Austin mini ) to the present day but i think it's probably personnel choice.

 

[jjad]

What's the difference between blue and red antifreeze - I've never seen red before.

 

[mike4gtl]

Marshalls of Cambridge use red, i use unipart which is illuminous green'y/yellow

 

[John Doe]

Mine is also green.

 

[ggcton]

Hi I have been reading about this recently in Practical classic and other sources it appears that some antifreezes are distructive to old cars and are only suitable for modern vehicles.

There is a similar problem with gearbox oils and you need to use EP 80/90 in our cars as modern oil can attack some older gearbox components in older vehicles
.
Here is a link about antifreeze.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/products/1272436

Gary

 

[godlike]

The color of antifreeze doesn't matter. What it does, is the substance.
I know for 3 types:
- G12 (moder cars like the new VW Polo)
- Dex-Cool
- Etyl-Glycol (most comonly used, used in old car)

 

[angel]

Well, I always laughed at the different antifreeze colours, and always believed it was just hype as all of them are ethylene glycol based. That's half of the truth, as red or pink ( like G12 ) antifreezes have different additives compared to yellow or green ones. These different additives are said to react if the two types of antifreeze are mixed, and the result is a substance that attacks all rubber seals and o-rings in the circuit. I think our cars are not sensitive to this, as the only o-ring in our cooling circuit is located in the heater control valve.
But it has caused a lot of problems in modern cars, since radiators and heaters with plastic tanks use o-rings to seal them to the core. This was the cause with a lot of Rovers and Land Rovers here, some 10 years earlier. I have heard the same happening with Renaults of that era (some of them had yellow antifreeze, some others like the Twingo, red).

 

[mike4gtl]

I run the licra green antifreeze in my three old land rovers

 

[mike4gtl]

Snow is on its way to Cambridge aparently

 

[berserk_gorilla]

Up And Running Again.

Thank you for all your help. Bertie, The Miracle Whip, is now up and running and on the road again. After a good month of pain, and a few very cold weeks, she is on the road and doing well.

Just after leaving Aberdeen for Rutland a very heart-felt present came for Bertie in the post...

... On returning to Aberdeen Bobble and I went to see Bertie...

... put the new radiator in, started pouring in some water but, no. It was still too cold. We could defrost those parts in the engine bay but for those the other side of the bulk head that wasn't happening.

There was also the suspicion of the water pump!! Foolishly I ordered a new water pump for a 1985 Renault 4 F4, which still hasn't arrived, before checking the one already on The Miracle Whip.

The pump hadn't arrived after a week and the weather had got a bit warmer so we decided that we should have a look at the water pump. Took it off and what do you think we found? Perfect. Not a damn problem with it!

Put the water pump back on, and the radiator kindly donated by Rosalie and DONE! She was back. Flushed her with water, put some anti-freeze in and off she went. We went for a little drive to make sure everything was okay but after a couple of miles the temperature light came on. We stopped and opened the bonnet. There was nothing to suggest she was hot so started her again, light now off, and went back to the flat.

Having a look under the bonnet we found the temperature sensor connected to the temperature sensor wire connected to nothing... Looking around the oil sensor was connected to the temperature light and the temperature sensor to nothing. Checking the oil it was a little low, but then Bertie has always had a little oil leak from the rocker-box cover near the bulk head so it wasn't put down to much.

She drove well for the next couple of days although I had lost a bit of confidence in her. I had to be up in Inverness for 10 weeks in a couple of days and didn't know whether to take her or get a lift.

I trusted her. 100 miles in 3 hours (the roads are windy and there are a lot of villages on the way). But we made it! Brilliant car.

She has developed quite an oil leak now but only when she has got warm from running. Keeping a bottle of oil in the back to keep her topped up at the moment. I think Bobble and I are considering giving her a heart transplant in the summer.

Cheers for your help.

 

[Bobble]

Well done, you have to think positive and positive things will happen.
Glad it got there and it's running ok ? apart for the oil leakage, does any leak out overnight or just when it's running ?

 

[mike4gtl]

If you want help in the summer rebuilding your engine, my offer of services are there. Rutland is not far from my parents.

Michael

 

[berserk_gorilla]

Thanks Michael, that does sound like a plan. Few other bits that should probably be done at the same time, especially if the weather's good. Bertie has got to look her best for Thenay!