Water pump frozen???

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

When I got the new engine in my 68 C10 I double checked with the mechanic about putting antifreeze in it. I even called him before the cold snap hit us last night. Well today my wife starts up the truck and the cab fills with smoke. She popped the hood and found the fan belt melted and broken. The fan will not turn by hand. WTH???? If it has antifreeze in it, why would the pump freeze? The pump is brand new. I live in SC, so this cold is rare here. The engine is a 1972 350. I hope my new engine has not been damaged. It only has 500 miles on it. Anyone else have any ideas?

[harpo231]

Shouldn't freeze , sounds like pump bearing seized .

[54blackhornet]

Must be one of those chineeeeeeeeeseeee pumps

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

I had her pop the radiator cap and there was a slushy-looking brown ice around the top. Yet the mechanic put 2 gallons of antifreeze in the radiator 2 months ago. Or maybe the water pump bearing did go out...?

[rockyrivermark]

Originally Posted by HIGHWAY BY THE SEA

I had her pop the radiator cap and there was a slushy-looking brown ice around the top. Yet the mechanic put 2 gallons of antifreeze in the radiator 2 months ago. Or maybe the water pump bearing did go out...?

Might not be too late. Get some heat on it or in a garage with some type of temp heat asap!
How cold did it get?
Then check the coolant. Should not be slush in there at all
Personally I wouldn't trust it and I would drain the system.
Backflush since its brown color.
Then drain and add new coolant.
Mark

[sick472]

Check the coolant in the radiator by removing the cap and see if it is frozen, if not, then your pump shouldn't be frozen either. If your coolant IS frozen then you pump is likely frozen too (along with the rest of the motor). That would not be good. Sometimes the freeze plugs will "pop" out and save the engine, but when they do not "pop"... the engine block can freeze and crack. Don't ask me how I know...

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

28 degrees

[54blackhornet]

How long was it below 32 ? Would take a while to crack the block...

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by 54blackhornet

How long was it below 32 ? Would take a while to crack the block...

A day or so. I just cannot see how this could have occured with antifreeze at these temperatures. I trust this mechanic because we grew up together.

[rockyrivermark]

Originally Posted by HIGHWAY BY THE SEA

28 degrees

28 degrees for how long?
Your prob ok but get heat on it right away until you find out for sure what's going on. Even a space heater blowing under the engine in your garage.
The only mechanic I trust is myself.
Don't take his word for it.

[Orange Crate]

There are test strips you can buy at any parts house to test the temp that your antifreeze can go down to. You just dip the strip in the antifreeze and compare it to the chart provided with the strips. I would suggest testing or just buy another gallon of antifreeze and get it in there. Drain some old stuff out first obviously. It sounds like you don't have enough antifreeze if you are seeing "slush" under the cap. You may have only ruined the belt at this point so not too bad. If the freezing was worse than that then the freeze plugs will pop out (that's why they are called freeze plugs). If a freeze plug has popped out that also isn't too bad but a little more work to correct. If the freezing is beyond just the freeze plug popping out it will crack the block and sometimes you can't tell until the block gets warmed back up and you get antifreeze in the oil or you get antifreeze coming out of the exhaust when running. You may not bee too late though, I would start with more antifreeze and a new belt, oh ya get it warmed up some how too.

[sick472]

Ice slush in the radiator is not very encouraging. However, the radiator would likely freeze first due to the location and exposure to the wind chill. If you caught it in time, maybe only the pump froze up. Get'er warmed up and thawed out and go from there. Watch for any coolant drippings as it thaws out to help determine any potential damage like cracks, freeze plugs, or pump seals. I hope the best for ya! Maybe your mechanic accidentally diluted the antifreeze twice. 50/50 would have been enough for many days at 28 degrees, but 25/75...not so much.

[Bigdav160]

Sometimes the freeze plugs will "pop" out and save the engine, but when they do not "pop"... the engine block can freeze and crack. Don't ask me how I know...

Many times they "pop" out and the block still cracks! Seen it a few times.

To the OP, even the slightest antifreeze concentration should have protected you. I doubt there's "two gallons"

[jocko]

28 deg is not "cold" just because it's below freezing - trucks drive all winter in much colder weather than that without antifreeze freezing. If the belt is melted and the pump won't turn by hand, then it's very likely the bearing went south. Even if the AF is slushy (which it shouldn't be), the belt should have turned the wp pulley when starting. AF would have to be frozen completely solid to keep the wp from turning. "Slushy looking brown ice" does NOT sound like fresh antifreeze, or like any antifreeze at all, was put in just two months ago. Do you trust your mechanic? Did you happen to notice if you had fresh antifreeze in the radiator after he worked on it? There is no reason (yet) to suspect engine damage. It was clearly turning over when she tried to start it, but the wp wasn't turning with it. Did it actually start up and then smoke up or did it smoke up once running?

[garyd1961]

Brown slush sounds like water with rust in it from running "without" antifreeze. I don't care what your mechanic said there is not two gallons of antifreeze in that motor, probably none at all.
Freeze plugs were not meant to keep the block from cracking. What they really are is ports to get the sand out of the blocks when they were cast. They sometimes pop out when the block freezes but doesn't mean the block isn't cracked also.
Put some heat to your motor asap. As soon as it thaws, drain and fill with fresh water then check for leaks. Run the motor a short while then check for water in oil. If all checks out ok flush the cooling system then fill with the proper mix of antifreeze let the motor warm up and check for leaks and water in oil again.

[rockyrivermark]

Originally Posted by garyd1961

Brown slush sounds like water with rust in it from running "without" antifreeze. I don't care what your mechanic said there is not two gallons of antifreeze in that motor, probably none at all.
Freeze plugs were not meant to keep the block from cracking. What they really are is ports to get the sand out of the blocks when they were cast. They sometimes pop out when the block freezes but doesn't mean the block isn't cracked also.
Put some heat to your motor asap. As soon as it thaws, drain and fill with fresh water then check for leaks. Run the motor a short while then check for water in oil. If all checks out ok flush the cooling system then fill with the proper mix of antifreeze let the motor warm up and check for leaks and water in oil again.

Isnt that just unbelievable. Guy even called the mechanic to double check. Just goes to show you can't trust people these days, most anyway.
Bud, I hope you engine is ok. I think it should be ok given all the info you gave.
Either way I would be paying him a visit.
Just don't wait and get some heat going on it!!!
Mark

[bbrown549]

You mention "new engine, has this engine been ran before?
I have seen the pulley bolted on the water pump with too
long of bolts and the bolts will catch on the pump causing the pulley
to not turn. If this is not the case, I'd say the bearings in the pump
are shot

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Thanks for all the replies. Here is the update. I'm not sure what my wife was talking about because the fan and the pully moved perfectly when I got home. But the belt was definitely broken. I found ice in the bottom radiator hose on one side only towards the radiator. The side of it closest to the engine had no ice. Inside the radiator I found some more brown ice. So I bought a new belt and installed it. Then I started up the truck and watched with the radiator cap off for about 4 minutes. Within 4 minutes the ice and slush inside the radiator was liquid. I looked for leaks several times before driving it, then drove it around the block and to the gas station, all the time stopping and checking for leaks. There were none. So I brought it home drained whatever liquid was in the radiator, then put a gallon of concentrated antifreeze in there with a little bit of 50/50. After I did that I drove it around some more to work it all into the system. The truck is running fine so far, and tomorrow I'm going to check the oil to make sure there is no antifreeze in there.

[geezer#99]

You need to get one of these and check your coolant.
https://www.autozone.com/heating-and...ter/525881_0_0

[WIDESIDE72]

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/cooling/cool_105.htm

"This little part is a "core plug" not a "freeze plug". Anyone who thinks it might ever function as a freeze plug may one day be sadly disappointed, about the same time they are confronted with a large expense for replacing a broken engine block.

Under a certain (and rather unlikely) set of circumstances, the core plug might be dislodged by freezing coolant without otherwise damaging the engine. If the coolant in the engine does not have enough antifreeze for the cold temperature encountered, it can of course freeze. In the process of freezing, the water and ice expand a little. As heat is removed from the fluid part of the fluid freezes while some of it remains liquid at the same temperature. As more heat is removed more of the liquid turns solid, until it may all eventually be frozen. During the time when it is partly frozen and still partly liquid it can flow like a slushy snow cone, effectively acting like hydraulic fluid. And if a core plug was not particularly tight in the engine block, the plug might pop out and relieve the pressure, thereby preventing the engine block from bursting. Do you feel lucky?

If the ambient temperature persists long enough below the freezing point of the fluid, then the fluid will eventually freeze completely solid. As the coolant approaches being completely solid it will not flow very well, and the continued expansion may burst the engine block even after a core plug may have blown out. The only thing to prevent that from happening is if the ambient temperature rises above the freezing temperature of the fluid before it is all frozen solid. I don't feel that lucky. The core plugs may also hold firmly in place and never blow out while the expansion of the freezing fluid breaks the engine block.

So this is not the original purpose of the core plug. These plugs are simply used to close off a hole in the casting which was formed by a supporting arm of the sand "core" which was used to form the hollow cavities inside the engine block while molten iron was being poured into the sand mold. Thus the proper term "core plug". "

[Jcfcamaro]

My 1981 Monte Carlo froze up one winter back in 90 . It was my own fault for not checking the anti freeze. Didn't have a garage to pull it in so we put a heat lamp under the motor and blocked around the outside of the front clip and under the trans with foam and tarps. It took awhile the thaw out but it worked and it finally started. Always check the concentration when mixing with water or buy the 50/50 mix. Maybe you had the 50/50 and mixed it with water which would make it very weak.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

Many years ago when I had a service station on a real cold morning I had a call from a local Motel that a customers car wouldn't start. I took the booster cables & went there. It was a panel truck with a Stovebolt 6 engine. The guy had driven in from California last night. I opened the hood & I had never seen anything like this. Frozen engines were fairly common back then but not like this. The hoses were pulled off the outlets about 1/2 in & a column of ice was in the gap between them. The block had a long crack along the lower edge of the jacket with ice hanging out. The core plugs stuck out a ways with a column of ice behind them. The engine or water pump would not turn. I referred him to the local garage.
George

[Steeveedee]

Yeah, I don't think a jump would have done much good...

[midniteblues]

Here's a quick check if it's quiet around you.
Grab and squeeze and pump the top rad hose(if you can) you should hear the liquid squishing and not crunchy ice.

That's always something I do.
But of course a antifreeze check is paramount.

I flushed my cobalt's cooling system when I got it a few months ago and only filled it with water thinking I'll put coolant in it later.
Did I feel like a mo ron when the first cold snap came this season. They sure don't make the plastic rad drain plugs easy too get to anymore.

[In The Ten Ring]

Glad things are looking up for the original poster! That would be scary....cracked block.

Makes me want to start my truck again....maybe this weekend. I was pretty careful on making 50/50 antifreeze mix and there is some straight concentrated antifreeze in there.