# Frozen coolant

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [January 9, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143 "2010-01-09T17:53:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![djdarling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@djdarling](https://community.cartalk.com/u/djdarling)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143/1 "2010-01-09T17:53:05Z")

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Not sure how to make a comment about cartalk advice. The guy who had an engine freeze said he saw a block of ice in his coolant resevoir so his problem may be from diluted coolant rather than insufficient coolant.

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**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143/2 "2010-01-09T18:10:15Z")

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I didn’t hear the show, but I think of insufficient coolant as being the same thing as diluted coolant.

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**Author:** ![EllyEllis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f14d63/32.png) [@EllyEllis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/EllyEllis)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143/3 "2010-01-09T22:46:46Z")

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I suppose “insufficient coolant” might mean he didn’t have enough to fill the system and Diluted Coolant might mean not enough antifreeze to water ratio.

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**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/frozen-coolant/42143/4 "2010-01-09T23:30:18Z")

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Well, either way, since there was ice in the coolant overflow container, and since the engine overheated, it sure sounds like the engine was ice-bound also. And, since the exhaust is now blowing white smoke, I don’t think that there is any good news to come out of this situation.

And, in case you missed the program, the driver’s reaction to overheating was to add oil to the engine–apparently without verifying that it actually needed oil. Any way that you slice it or dice it, this sounds like an expensive proposition to fix.