Car wont start with weather

mufcboy1999

i left my car parked up for a week about 3 weeks ago when the snow was really bad.

i cant get it started now since, tried jumping it. had someone who knows a bit about cars today have a look and he told me all the pipes leading into the engine are froze.

you can physically feel the ice in the pipe's in engine.

he said to get some anti freeze and wait till the weather gets a bit warmer to try start it again otherwise il damage the engine. its still makin noise when i turn the key to start it and all the electrics work fine so the battery isn't dead yet .

do ye think i should get someone to toe it into a garage and get it fixed? because the weather doesnt look like changing and i need the car over xmas big time to get home and around etc:mad: can a mechanic fix this handy?

its a 1.4 petrol astra if it makes any difference

cheers in advanced

jimmyw

Yeah it sounds like you have little or no antifreeze in the engine.Get about 2 litres of antifreeze and mix it with water about 50/50 and pour it in to the rad or expansion tank and try the engine again.If she starts watch the temp gauge and don't let it go too high (above the centre position).If everthing is ok, mix some more and top it up.Is she actually turning over or just dead?

fergal.b

If your pipes are frozen don't try to start it you can snap your timing belt and reck your engine.:eek: Make sure all the water in the engine is melted before you try to start it.

peasant

fergal.b wrote: »

If your pipes are frozen don't try to start it you can snap your timing belt and reck your engine.:eek: Make sure all the water in the engine is melted before you try to start it.

+1

only start it after it has thoroughly thawed

In this weather that would involve towing it to a heated garage and leaving it there for a day or so before starting it

bman1

happened to our truck at work. it might sound stupid but we stuck a blow heater under the bonnet for a few hours, kept the bonnet closed down but not fully shut, and it did the trick for us. i'd just make sure to balance it in a way it can't fall or move about. like i said, worked for us anyway.

peasant

bman1 wrote: »

happened to our truck at work. it might sound stupid but we stuck a blow heater under the bonnet for a few hours, kept the bonnet closed down but not fully shut, and it did the trick for us. i'd just make sure to balance it in a way it can't fall or move about. like i said, worked for us anyway.

mmmh yes ...I can see it now ...electricity, moisture, petrol fumes ...could be the quickest thaw in history

bman1

see your point! the mechanic work uses did it anyway, was a big daf truck, wouldn't have been able to tow it anywhere and has to get it started so it was a quick fix.

peasant

Bit more room under the bonnet of a truck to safely (-ish) place a heater. Also, it's diesel and that won't explode should there be a spark.

bman1

peasant wrote: »

Bit more room under the bonnet of a truck to safely (-ish) place a heater. Also, it's diesel and that won't explode should there be a spark.

yeah, true true, forgot bout his car being a petrol model. i'd hate to think if it's frozen in the pipes it's probably frozen in the block as well. even if he could put the car inside out of the worst of the weather for one night it'd give it sum chance of thawing out a bit. and to undo the drain on the bottom of the rad so as it melted it had sumwhere to go....

Jimmy Garlic

Plenty of rubber hot water bottles or any sealed container that can hold hot water safely (plastic bottles should be ok as long as the water is not boiling). Arrange them around the engine bay, especially near the rad and pipes. That should do the trick. You might have to change the water in the bottles 2 or 3 times. If you have a high power portable halogen spotlight to shine into the engine bay that would also do the trick. Don't attempt to start it until you are confident that it has thawed out. Check your freeze plugs.

jimmyw

jimmyw wrote: »

Yeah it sounds like you have little or no antifreeze in the engine.Get about 2 litres of antifreeze and mix it with water about 50/50 and pour it in to the rad or expansion tank and try the engine again.If she starts watch the temp gauge and don't let it go too high (above the centre position).If everthing is ok, mix some more and top it up.Is she actually turning over or just dead?

Doubt there is room for anything to be added if the system is frozen solid like that.

As other folks have said OP
- stop trying to start it until the ice has melted
- encourage the ice to melt by gentle heating
- you then can drain out some of that stuff and add in antifreeze
- may well be required to have a mechanic / someone knowledgeable to do it for you.