i couldn't tell you, the problem happened when i was sitting inside letter my car idle outside, next thing i know radiator fluid everywehre.

 

it's not called radiator fluid.

 

going to the shop right now, thanks for the theromstat and ice blockage ideas Gene, also what would i do differently next time to winter proof my coolant system? I but the Ice stuff in my gas tank, but what else should i do?

and my bad, frustrated and don't give a f*ck, antifreeze, happy?

 

Do you mix your own antifreeze or buy premixed?

 

premixed

 

Well if it did indeed freeze over I recommend you start mixing it yourself.

 

agreed. it seems odd though becasue this was the warmest day its been in months, and an ice block today? Seems odd, but bad thermostat is a big possibility. I'll know more tomorrow.

 

it might have been the warmest day in months, but if it was still cold, and it froze up a week ago, it just didnt have time to melt. Next time, start it, and watch it, if the temp gauge starts climbing, shut it off, for a few min, like 5 min, then start it again, this will give the heat time to propigate through the system and start melting stuff, and then as soon as you get it all melted and it'll run and not boil over, dump the old coolant, and mix up some new....

 

You may have mixed the coolant with too much water or the pre-mix was too weak of a mix. It could have frozen and expanded and blew your radiator tank or coolant hoses somewhere and caused the leak and the leak didn't present it's self untill it got warm and the system built up pressure. +1^ on mixing your own coolant. Just run a higher mix of coolant. like instead of 50/50 do like 70/30. It's not going to affect anything other than your freezing point. Less water = less likely it will freeze.

 

A complication with mixing your own coolant is that you really must use distilled water to dilute the coolant. In this regard, one major benefit for the use of coolant rather than tap water is the coolant additives that serve to prevent destruction of the cooling system and engine through chemical reactions between dissolved minerals and the metallic engine. Most tap water contains a high concentration of minerals, which obviously should be strictly avoided in the cooling system. Therefore, I recommend that you simply purchase premixed coolant, which is available in a variety of concentrations.