Hi all, I have a 1995 subaru that had only water (no antifreeze) in the cooling system. I live in Austin, TX and this has never been a problem before, but we got some crazy cold weather a few days ago and I think the water may have frozen. The car will not start now, just turns over and over, with no indication of firing at all. Any thoughts on what may have happened. It only froze briefly here, but I don't know how much it would take to do damage. Thanks-

Hi all, I have a 1995 subaru that had only water (no antifreeze) in the cooling system. I live in Austin, TX and this has never been a problem before, but we got some crazy cold weather a few days ago and I think the water may have frozen. The car will not start now, just turns over and over, with no indication of firing at all. Any thoughts on what may have happened. It only froze briefly here, but I don't know how much it would take to do damage. Thanks-

 

Not a good Idea to run a car without antifreeze anywhere. If the water did freeze in the engine and expanded, water could have gotten into the cylinders, just a guess. I had a 1995 subaru that I bought new and it went 226,000 miles before my son traded it in. Fantastic car.

Do you have ice in the radiator? I don't think freezing the water will stop you from starting. unless the water pump is frozen keeping the engine from turning over. but you may have some serious leaks once it thaws. get some anti-freeze in there asap. I've seen engines ruined from 1 day in freezing weather. No modern car should be run without anti-freeze.

Edited January 12, 201016 yr by Tahoe Subaru

One cold night won't usually do it, but if it was a few days...

 

If the coolant temp sensor was damaged, it might be giving the computer a bad reading, which would make it so the computer didn't richen up the fuel mixture for starting. I had a beater legacy that I had to pour some gas on the air filter to get it to take because the CTS was gone. It's like having a carbureted car with no choke.

 

Other potential idea is the water pump may not have been able to turn due to ice in the impellers. The pump is driven by the timing belt, which if it was marginal could have broken or jumped time?

Just hope nothing is cracked due to the frozen water that expanded!

freeze plugs.

built in.

this was 1000% avoidable.

use antifreeze next time

Edited January 14, 201016 yr by bheinen74

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_plug

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_change_freeze_plugs_on_the_engine

 

popped or compromised freeze plugs would just cause a leak right? not prevent the car from starting...

 

what does it sound like when cranking? any fluid leaks?

 

a rare cold snap could stress a lingering marginal component into failure...check the common failure points first...ignition components, fuel delivery system

Edited January 15, 201016 yr by 89Ru