So, I recently acquired a 99 ranger xlt with the 4.0. The other day before going to work i had decided to check the oil and what not and i happened to glance over at the coolant over flow tank and noticed that the "cooloant" was frozen. Little did i know the previous owner used water istead of antifreeze. So my question here is, how can i get the water thawed to be able to flush everything? I dont have a garage or anything of that nature. And i kinda need the truck sooner than later. The truck has sat ever since and hasnt been started if that matters.

 

If the overflow was frozen solid be prepared for the worst. You might get lucky but you could be looking at a cracked block, cracked radiator, and cracked heater coil.

Check the oil and confirm it is not milky. Crank it up and hope for the best. Once it get up to operating temperature check for leaks and confirm the oil is not milky.

Good luck.

 

The oil isnt milky at all. & Id like to refrain from starting it until ive gotten things thawed in case the water pump and what not has frozen also. I can only imagine what all damage that could cause.

 

Well, u could use straight rubbing alcohol in the overflow tank....that will thaw it out, although its rough on rubber componets....i recently had to do this because I still had the summer washer solvent in my truck.....

 

Could i use rubbing alcohol in the radiator also? & if the water pump were to be frozen???

 

If the water in the water pump is frozen it is damaged. You will not add any additional damage by cranking it - if it can be cranked. If it freezes again tonight the chances of damage will increase. You need to get the water out of the system before the next hard freeze.

 

U could, maybe not the greatest of ideas but without a garage and the clock ticking......I would do what was necessary to get it going then flush the system out ......

 

Just slip the belt off and see if the water pump turns by hand.

This happened to me a while ago, with a TR7.
No garage either...
It was -15 out at the time.

I ended up making a house out of cardboard, red Tuck tape and blankets.
I then used two ceramic heaters and a hair dryer to thaw things out.

It worked quite well, the hair dryer moves a lot of warm air in large volumes, it was very effective.

 

I would take off fan belt and start the engine
Let it run for 2 minutes, no longer, then shut it off and close the hood.
Let engine/exhaust heat thaw out anything frozen

Let it sit for 15-20min
check that water pump now turns, it will
Put fan belt back on and start engine again hood closed
Run it for 5-8 min, temp gauge should get to 1/2, wait for that, then shut it off again
Check under vehicle just after startup for water dripping down, if you see that then core plug(freeze plug) has been pushed out and you will need to repair that

If no water is dripping out then wait 15-20min again, radiator, overflow and heater core will be thawed out now.
Drain overflow, take hose off rad cap opening and lower if down under rad so water will drain out.
Put hose back and fill up overflow 1/2 way
Be careful opening rad cap, drain water from rad/engine and refill with coolant.
You can remove lower rad hose from radiator to drain water out.
Remove either heater hose from firewall, then refill, when coolant starts to come out of heater hose, put it back on and clamp it, this lets air out when refilling engine.

Start engine with rad cap off, let it idle for 5-8 minutes, or until coolant at top of radiator starts to feel warm, thermostat has opened, top up rad, and put cap on.

Any remaining air will purge itself over the next few warm ups and cool downs, keep overflow tank level correct

And watch for LEAKS

 

Well I feel like an idiot, that's a much better plan then a cardboard hut around the truck.

At the time it seemed like a good idea, and when it came to the TR7, the water pump was driven by the timing chain, so it could not be taken out of the equation.

Same for the Mazda B2200 engines, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.