motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system?
 

I'm asking this because although my itr sits in the garage, my itr swapped ef sits in the driveway.

For the first time in many many years, we encountered some below freezing temperatures for a couple of days straight - even got down to 12deg F or so.....

Anyway, for the past few years I've been running only distilled water and water wetter in my hatch.

Well I forgot about it, and the radiator hoses froze solid with ice from the cooling system in them. Should I be worried?

The next day, I put a small heater under the motor and put a blanket over it and got everything pretty warm, but I'm concerned that I may have damaged the motor in some way by letting it get so cold with water in it the night before.

I know that the coolant passages in the motor probably had solid ice in them for some hours and that water expands as it turns to ice. Could it have cracked the block of the motor somehow?

What about the water pump or thermostat? Those also could have been damaged, couldn't they?

How can I go about testing to make sure everything is ok?

I have since put in proper mixed antifreeze and warmed up the car. The heater seems to work ok, but I don't really see the water in the radiator circulating like I thought it used to. Or will it only circulate once the car has completely warmed up?

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

have you driven it?

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

is it leaking from anywhere? if its not, and the car warms up fine, i probably wouldnt worry.

this is why i put about a quart of antifreeze in my car, just in case it gets a little chilly. and it has.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

check freeze plugs, if they are ok....you should be fine....

they are generally the first part to show a problem

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

i would'nt worry, out here in canada
it already reached temp of -40
and my R runs perfectly fine. keeping
in mind i plug her in every night.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

Your block has safeguards against cracking/failure from freezing coolant (or in your case, water).

As mentioned earlier, check the freeze plugs on the block. They will pop out before any of the cast aluminum will crack.

I would be more worried about your heater core and coolant lines. It is hard for the freezing water to evacuate from that area, and you may have cracks. If you do not loose water/coolant or notice any leaks, you should be in the clear.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

Actually, i have seen some V8 GMs that has froze over with water in the cooling system resulting in a cracked block. Now, Hondas might have safety mechanisms to prevent this from happening.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

had this problem this past weekend at the track -- 9degrees .

Started car without thinking of the lines -- Busted radiator and top hose.

I would worry about the head gasket from over heating. sucks, but live and learn.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

hmm... well does anybody have a diagram to show the path that coolant takes through the motor and cooling system?

i haven't fully warmed up the car yet - just twice to make sure it started fine and to put antifreeze in. the upper radiator hose starts to warm up, but it seems the lower radiator hose stays cool. It makes me worry that the system isn't circulating coolant at all.....

I haven't driven it yet because I want to buy some new clamps for the hoses first.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

i had little to no water/coolant in my system over winter...car sat in the garage...never really thought about it but it started right up first crank....

it takes for ever for the thermastat to open...i just replaced.flushed/added my coolant today...id say honestly it took a solid 30 minutes at idle for the thermastat to open up and lower hose achieve pressure/warmth..top hose will get rather warm/hot prior to the thermastat opening..took another 6 minutes before the fan kicked on

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

just thaw the system fully and look for leaks. you should probably be ok as stated above. freeze plugs would probably go before anything else

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

The motor will likely be fine but I'd worry about the heater core. When I had coolant freeze, the radiator and core both burst.

Re: motor damage from below freezing temperatures + distilled water in cooling system
 

I'm sitting here and looking at my usdm b18c5 block.
Only PLUGS I see are threaded in.
Where are these so called freeze plugs located.........