Bertrand Daoust

Hi guys,

My question this morning is:

Would it be safe to leave the engine without coolant for a about four months?
I have to add that the car is stored inside but in a non heated garage. The weather here will drop to at least -25C.

I'm asking this as I'm working right now on the intake and water bridge and would need to remove the coolant. As the weather will get quite cold soon, I would leave the engine like that untill maybe March or April.

Thanks.

the flyin' scotsman

bonjour mon ami..........-25c is nothing Bertrand.......now -35c I'd be concerned

All joking aside the water bridge could be worked without removing all the coolant.

Drain enough from the rad so the lower rad hose can be removed from the tstat housing and your good. Id put some tape over the open hose so nothing drops in there.

Salut

Mrmerlin

at that cold temps and no coolant it should be OK for a short time say 6 months HGs that have gotten wet then dried out may fail due to the HG surfaces inside the coolant ways expanding from corrosion .
FWIW you could work on the water bridge and intake and still have/ leave the coolant in the block
the block will hold about 2.2 gallons of coolant with the radiator removed

depami

Now I'm really confused.

For years you guys have been warning that long term storage with coolant can damage blocks and heads and now I'm hearing that dry storage can damage head gaskets.

Many of these cars sit for years without running and even more hibernate for months every year.

What is the proper coolant procedure for the different storage scenarios?

Bertrand Daoust

Thanks guys.

I'll drain the rad but not the block.

I have already removed the intake with the coolant still there. I know not a good idea!

I lost some coolant when I removed the regulator and damper brackets.
The intake was still in place but now I have to remove the spark plugs and make sure that there is absolutely no coolant there.

Thanks again.

oups59

I don't see issues of removing the coolant for 3-4 months but I am not an expert ...

I done that with both of my Honda Turbo motorcycles, one was in storage for 5 years

Mrmerlin

if you take a head off a 928 engine you will see how the gaskets is exposed to open areas and how it will grow
If the coolant is old then the protection it offers will be lost
also if the block is drained there is a possibility that air getting onto the gasket will dry it out and thus cause it to weaken where the air has touched it,
remember the gaskets are usually over 20 years old,
fitting new gaskets will reduce the effects of drying out original gaskets

19psi

Had to check the garage to make sure mine were still there!

Bilal928S4

If an auto or motor cycle is stored for an indefinite amount of time and is not run. Would the coolant lose its protective chemicals? After how long?

danglerb

Coolant goes acid AFAIK not so much from time, but starting condition and action of whatever uses up the protective chemicals.

Damage I've seen looks almost like termites with the coolant aggressively going after the aluminum once it has a stagnant cavity like a bad tooth.

dr bob

The pH of the coolant changes with age and contact with the metal. Temperature accelerates the deterioration. I strongly recommend against extended storage with coolant, and even extended winter storage might deserve at least fresh coolant. You can test coolant pH with a test-strip kit from a pool-supply store. A pH 7.5 or higher would be a minimum.

The corrosive effects of stale coolant cannot be overstated.

FWIW, I have a few (maybe more...) vintage race engines stored with kerosene in the block, in both the oil- and coolant-exposed cavities. I got an interesting call from a scooter dealer that has one of the bikes on display, alerting me to the fact the engine is "locked up". Someone had tried the kickstarter, despite the extensive signage attached and the 'secured' start lever. With crankcase and cylinders as well as the coolant passages completely filled, nothing would budge. The 2-stroke intake and exhaust ports have blocking plates, and the carburetors are hollow shells. The 'headgaskets' are thin copper rings BTW. Ihave a few more conventional (4-stroke) Lotus engines pickled the same way. I never concerned myself with whether the headgasket material might be affected by the kerosene, since new gaskets can be obtained while replacement engine metal is a little tougher to find.

Bilal928S4

So would a PH of 7.2 kill the engine?

danglerb

My suspicion is that PH of the coolant in general could be OK, but once you have little pockets eaten away its a much smaller volume of coolant exposed to a much higher ratio of metal to coolant and it goes bad within the pocket and eats away a little more metal.

Good to know about the pool strips, I paid like $20 for bottle of test strips at Napa. Someday I hope to remember where I put the bottle and use one.