Starting idle car

johnbobtheslob

Hey all. The fan belt went in my car 2 weeks ago. I have been in college with the last 2 weeks so havent had time to fix it. Anyway on the way home this morning to collect a few things and picked up a fan belt at a local motor factors and went out to the car out the back. Got the fan belt on and tightened it. Only thing is the car has been just sitting out the back in the freezing temperatures and was worried that the water in the rad and pipes may be frozen. Started it anyway and just seen smoke coming from the manifold,not a terrible amount but a small bit. Turned it off then.

Now was just wondering what should i do? Seen as the car was parked up for 2 weeks could there be a problem with water freezing in the engine? Any help appreciated.

Tom Slick

Check for visible signs of coolant freezing in the expansion tank or rad.
This should provide some clue . . .

jimmyw

Which manifold? Inlet or exhaust? If its the exhaust, it could only be moisture that collected there over the layup just burning off.Check to see either in the rad or expansion tank to see if the water is coloured, ie coolant in there.

Tea drinker

jimmyw wrote: »

Which manifold? Inlet or exhaust? If its the exhaust, it could only be moisture that collected there over the layup just burning off.Check to see either in the rad or expansion tank to see if the water is coloured, ie coolant in there.

Exactly. Or even a slight drip of oil from the rocker cover / cam cover.
That's worth checking and fixing, see if you have oil weeping down on the exhaust manifold. Anything that makes noxious smells or could (if severe enough) potentially cause a fire I would fix. Leaking oil = loosing money.

biko

Let car sit in the sun until all ice has melted off it. It should be ok to start then.
Check the oil and coolant levels for a while. Test and/or put proper antifreeze in the rad.