Last week, with the weather forecast calling for much colder temps, I
did a quick, temporary winterization of my 4 cylinder Volvo by letting
the water pump suck in two gallons of RV antifreeze after the engine
had been brought up to operating temperature. To be sure the
antifreeze had made it through the system, I captured what was dripping
out of the outdrive bellows in an empty water bottle after I shut the
engine off. I decided I would keep this bottle of antifreeze near the
boat to see if it would ever freeze up. Since last week when I did
this we have had some unseasonably cold temps and signicant snowfall
here (South Lake Tahoe, CA); the high in past two days was 36F with a
low of 6F this morning. This morning I checked the bottle of
antifreeze and the contents was slushy. Now I am worried about
possible damage due to freezing. Should I be concerned or does it take
a longer, hard freeze than this to do damage?

By the way, I plan on taking my boat down to a warmer climate this
weekend for it's yearly winter storage.

Thanks,
Bob

Remote diagnosis is hard and you left out some important detail....

Slushy is probably OK, but did it get worse than slushy in the engine???

Good factors -- less likelihood of damage:
1) if the boat's in the water, it's unlikely to have frozen
2) if the bottle was outside the boat, it likely got colder than the engine
3) if your check this morning was very early -- still near the low
temperature overnight -- then it's probably all right
4) if the boat was closed up, it wouldn't cool off as fast

Bad factors -- more likelihood of damage
1) if the boat's out of the water, it will cool off more rapidly
2) if the bottle was sitting on the engine, it experienced the same
conditions as the engine
3) if it had warmed up significantly by the time you checked, that's a
problem

If I understand your process, it sounds like the bottle may be more diluted
than the stuff remaining in the engine. Hence, the bottle is worst case and
the engine is better protected.....

Best bet is to put an antifreeze tester in it and measure the freezing
point, then do your best to find out how cold it got. You can also try
running the engine and seeing if the cooling system comes up to pressure and
stays there -- either with a special test gauge that goes on the radiator
cap or by -- very carefully not to get seriously burned -- turning the cap
and seeing if there's pressure. If the cooling system keeps pressure, then
there's unlikely a water to air leak. There may still be a water to oil
leak, so look in both the water and the oil for unusual color.

Jim Woodward
www.mvFintry.com



wrote in message
...

Last week, with the weather forecast calling for much colder temps, I
did a quick, temporary winterization of my 4 cylinder Volvo by letting
the water pump suck in two gallons of RV antifreeze after the engine
had been brought up to operating temperature. To be sure the
antifreeze had made it through the system, I captured what was dripping
out of the outdrive bellows in an empty water bottle after I shut the
engine off. I decided I would keep this bottle of antifreeze near the
boat to see if it would ever freeze up. Since last week when I did
this we have had some unseasonably cold temps and signicant snowfall
here (South Lake Tahoe, CA); the high in past two days was 36F with a
low of 6F this morning. This morning I checked the bottle of
antifreeze and the contents was slushy. Now I am worried about
possible damage due to freezing. Should I be concerned or does it take
a longer, hard freeze than this to do damage?

By the way, I plan on taking my boat down to a warmer climate this
weekend for it's yearly winter storage.

Thanks,
Bob

wrote in message
...

This morning I checked the bottle of
antifreeze and the contents was slushy. Now I am worried about
possible damage due to freezing. Should I be concerned or does it take
a longer, hard freeze than this to do damage?


Assuming that you used the pink Camco -50 antifreeze, the slush is normal.
See their web page at
http://www.camco.net/resourcecenter/index.htm

and click on antifreeze FAQ's

More facts:

- The boat is trailered.
- It is covered with a standard, trailerable cover; not sure of the
exact material but it is a durable, vinyl type material.
- The small bottle of antifreeze was outside the boat, sitting on the
trailer.
- I used Peak RV/Marine antifreeze, which claims to be burst proof to
-50F.
- The check was done not long after the low temperature.

I realize this situation is hard to diagnose; I appreciate the comments.
I will just have to keep my fingers crossed until I can run the engine
and find out for sure if things are OK or not.

Bob

Are you supposed to dilute the antifreeze 50/50, or is it ready to use? If
it's concentrated and you didn't dilute it, it can have a higher freeze
point than if you dilute it.

wrote in message
...

Last week, with the weather forecast calling for much colder temps, I
did a quick, temporary winterization of my 4 cylinder Volvo by letting
the water pump suck in two gallons of RV antifreeze after the engine
had been brought up to operating temperature. To be sure the
antifreeze had made it through the system, I captured what was dripping
out of the outdrive bellows in an empty water bottle after I shut the
engine off. I decided I would keep this bottle of antifreeze near the
boat to see if it would ever freeze up. Since last week when I did
this we have had some unseasonably cold temps and signicant snowfall
here (South Lake Tahoe, CA); the high in past two days was 36F with a
low of 6F this morning. This morning I checked the bottle of
antifreeze and the contents was slushy. Now I am worried about
possible damage due to freezing. Should I be concerned or does it take
a longer, hard freeze than this to do damage?

By the way, I plan on taking my boat down to a warmer climate this
weekend for it's yearly winter storage.

Thanks,
Bob

Keith wrote:
:Are you supposed to dilute the antifreeze 50/50, or is it ready to use? If
:it's concentrated and you didn't dilute it, it can have a higher freeze
oint than if you dilute it.

I used the pink RV antifreeze and I believe that it's designed to be
used undiluted, which is the way I used it. Per the manufacturer it's
burst proof up to -50F.

wrote in message
...
Keith wrote:
:Are you supposed to dilute the antifreeze 50/50, or is it ready to use?
If
:it's concentrated and you didn't dilute it, it can have a higher freeze
oint than if you dilute it.

I used the pink RV antifreeze and I believe that it's designed to be
used undiluted, which is the way I used it. Per the manufacturer it's
burst proof up to -50F.

The back of the container should give you the info on if its to be
diluted. Not likely that it is. There is some -100 stuff that is, but
the pink -50 stuff gets used straight.