Antifreeze reminder

It's -13°C here tonight and tomorrow is forecast to be -15°C.

If your Supra lives outside make sure is has sufficient antifreeze.

Bit late now !!!!!

The forecast was -8°C but the temperature is dropping like a stone.

Its been atleast -5/6 here for the last week, you should have told me a week ago, i now have a big crack down the side of my engine, cheers david:)

Mine doesn't have any in it.... am I safe?

Given the fact that freezing water struggles to burst a PET bottle I'd say the block would be safe

Although I've had core plugs nudged out in the past.

The rad on the other hand *pop*

Never mind, the archives appear to need a 'how to change a core plug' thread.

Never mind, the archives appear to need a 'how to change a core plug' thread.

It was on a 106 though, but I guess the process would be similar

Plastic will expand cast iron won`t, don`t underestimate the power of ice! i`m sure all those people with burst copper pipes wish they had plastic ones;)

Good reminder David

How do you make anti freeze?

How do you make anti freeze?

Put her in the freezer!

Plastic will expand cast iron won`t, don`t underestimate the power of ice! i`m sure all those people with burst copper pipes wish they had plastic ones;)

My little 106gti only had water in it a few years back. Popped out a core plug but the block was absolutely fine. Water freezing to ice will only exhert a certain amount of pressure, more than a PET bottle can take and more than a thin walled piece of copper can take. A cast iron block on the other hand handles 1000s of PSIs of pressure when your engine runs yet you think it would crack with ice? The ONLY way you could get ice to crack a decent gauge metal would be if it was completely sealed with zero air and already filled to a certain PSI.

A cast iron block on the other hand handles 1000s of PSIs of pressure when your engine runs yet you think it would crack with ice?

A picture saves a thousand words.

A picture saves a thousand words.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=146047&d=1328976240

That's not a block, it's thin walled.... as I said

BTW the reason for the core plugs in a block is to help prevent the block being sealed as far as I know. If the block WAS sealed ice would easily crack it.

Core plugs can (if you are lucky) help relieve damage to an engine block from the expansion of ice, yet exist to fill holes remaining from the cavity (water jacket) sand mold casting process.

Better pic.

The core plugs do help to reduce damage to block from ice, but exist to fill holes remaining from the cavity casting process.

 

Better pic.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=146048&d=1328977582

That would need to be extreme conditions to do that

My little pug was in -20 when it happened.... and it only pushed 1 core plug out.

I was always lead to believe that the core plugs were there for ice. I know that most of the holes are there for casting but they were left that way for freezing, otherwise it wouldn't be soft material plugs used.

Regardless, I stand corrected

Nuff said, cheers david, i was going to look for some pics but got busy.

Nuff said, cheers david, i was going to look for some pics but got busy.

Apologies Num

Of course frost / freezing will crack a cast iron block, or a cast alloy head! It'll do it easily. You need anti freeze in all year round anyway for its anti corrosion properties and its added water pump seal lubricants. Freezing will even jack the head off the block stretching or stripping head bolts. As someone said, core plugs are there to allow molten iron to flow from the mould when the raw un-machined casting is made. The fact freezing sometimes also pops them out is neither here nor there

Of course frost / freezing will crack a cast iron block, or a cast alloy head! It'll do it easily. You need anti freeze in all year round anyway for its anti corrosion properties and its added water pump seal lubricants. Freezing will even jack the head off the block stretching or stripping head bolts. As someone said, core plugs are there to allow molten iron to flow from the mould when the raw un-machined casting is made. The fact freezing sometimes also pops them out is neither here nor there

They are often referred to as freeze plugs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_plug

Wiki-reference for quickness. A quick google finds it referred to consistantly also though.

Can I top up my rad with any old brand / colour anti freeze ?

Is it ok to mix

Yes and yes, it's highly unlikely you will find any antifreeze that's not ethylene glycol based, unless it's 25 years old stuff and methanol based. There's absolutely no need to use that red Forlife stuff, even Toyota in the handbooks just specify "an ethylene glycol based anti freeze".

Of course frost / freezing will crack a cast iron block, or a cast alloy head! It'll do it easily. You need anti freeze in all year round anyway for its anti corrosion properties and its added water pump seal lubricants. Freezing will even jack the head off the block stretching or stripping head bolts. As someone said, core plugs are there to allow molten iron to flow from the mould when the raw un-machined casting is made. The fact freezing sometimes also pops them out is neither here nor there

I hadn't noticed I had a new handle?

Yes and yes, it's highly unlikely you will find any antifreeze that's not ethylene glycol based, unless it's 25 years old stuff and methanol based. There's absolutely no need to use that red Forlife stuff, even Toyota in the handbooks just specify "an ethylene glycol based anti freeze".

I bought some anti-freeze from my local motor factor and he asked me was it red or green stuff. I said i thought it was red but I'm not 100%. He told me that I better make sure or else do a flush as mixing the two will cause gelling and waxy deposits? I was under the impression anti-freeze was anti-freeze and could be mixed?