Winterization: All or Nothing?

[Bingster]

Winter is upon us here in Iowa, and it can get down to -40.  I just replaced a leaky freeze plug in my '47 DeSoto flat head, but I haven't put coolant or water in the engine for a good ten years.  Must have been a little residue or condensation I suppose.

 

So. . .  leave the cooling system empty or fill it up with coolant?

[plymouthcranbrook]

Well, coolant is an antirust as well as an antifreeze compound.  There is moisture in the air so if it was me and I was planning on driving it soon I would(assuming it does run) fill it with antifreeze and run it to fill the system. My 52 sat for several years not running but I still kept it full.  Now that it has been running for 10 years my coolant is still clean and green even though I only change it occasionally.

[Bingster]

Sounds good to me. Engine has recently been turned over but didn't start. Now I've lost my decent temps and have to wait till spring to start it unless I get a good day or two.  Had to remove starter to get it rebuilt and lost time on a number of items.

[desoto1939]

binster: so you stated that the engine has nor run on its own for over the past 10 years and there is no water or AF in the block and you live in Iowa. So if the engine block is dry with no water then why are you concerned now after 10 years of not having any water or Af in the block.

 

When you eplaced the welsh plug if there was any water it would have run out when the plug was removed.  Just leave it alone. May be suggest that you put some marvel mystery oil down each plug and cylinder hole and then manually turn the engine over by hand just to keep the cylinder wals lubed with a coating of oil so they do not get any rust from condensation from the air. Suggest that you turn the engine over at least every or every other month to keep things free and loose.

 

Just my 2 cents of FYI.

 

Rich hartung

[Bingster]

The engine has been maintained with MMO and I hope that turning it over recently spread the oil around some.

[Los_Control]

I know I suggested to add water to it so you could hear it run and let it warm up .... then if you found any more leaks you could fix them before adding coolant.

That was several weeks ago while you still had time to work on it.

 

Seems like that time has passed, I would not be adding antifreeze until after I checked with plain water that there were no more leaks.

I would not be adding plain water if the temps are below freezing ...... so I would just leave it dry at this point.

 

I'm in the same boat right now. I've been messing with mine, I had to pull the radiator out ... I put a new water pump on it while I was there .... I pulled the heater out because I need to paint it .... still not done that yet.  I needed to move the truck to get access to the carport, driveway .... looks like I have a leak somewhere but cant tell where.

 

I just do not have time to work on it right now, so will be draining the block and let it sit dry, until I do have time to work on it.