sigh... got my 7 back from the mechanic (fine tuning and stuff) and happy to have her back. went for a drive and heard a hideous squeal followed shortly thereafter by this nasty burnt rubber smell. i pop the hood and notice the belt sliding over the waterpump pulley... but the pulley isn't moving! so i'm thinking WTF! turn it off, turn the pulley by hand and now it moves. ok... freak thing. maybe i need to start looking for a new pump. anyway, i'm moving all my stuff to indy(1.5 hours away) and came back to get the 7. so after about 20mins of driving, i'm thinking"my heater should be warm by now but.....?". so i drive. temp gauge reads normal. no heat. POOP! did i mention it was 20 degrees outside? and colder inside? so by the time i get my frozen *** home i start thinking" pump doesn't move, no heat.... what was my antifreeze mix? 70/30?". i grab the upper radiator hose and it's filled with icy slush. the heater hoses are frozen solid. damn, i sure do miss florida.

 

I would be somewhat concerned if I were you. I had a bad mixture in my '7 because i rebuilt it and just added water, during the summer, so freezing wasn't an issue. But I didn't think about, and forgot it till a cold october day in Minnesota and it froze. The expansion of slushy coolant resulted in cracking a hole in the radiator, that was a major pain!! expensive to get another one.

 

yeah, i'm keeping an eye on it. i know its got freeze plugs, which should relieve some pressure. also, the rad wasn't topped off, hopefully giving it enough room to expand as it froze. but i'm pretty sure the impeller blades on the water pump are screwed. and florida has a high of 50 degrees today.

 

Better keep a close eye on it, freeze plugs work by exploding out of the block when the coolant freezes. Freezing coolant can do a lot of damage before the plugs blow out. You may have toasted your thermostat also, that would give the condition that you mentioned.
good luck,
hanman

 

yeah, its' possible. i know the heater didn't work because the lines were SOLID! the upper and lower rad hoses were slushy. i'm adding antifreeze(it was about 2 quarts low, but no leaks yet) in hopes that i can eventually melt it down. i'm pretty much counting on replacing the tstat and water pump. HOPEFULLY that's all that's gone wrong. hehe.... the car stayed right at its normal operating temp with the icy blanket around it. i'm not going to drive it till i can get it straightened out though. no point in making it worse. i only hope i can start her once a week to keep the internals spiffy. i don't want her locking up like my SE did after i let it sit too long. then again, at least NOW i know about ATF... too bad i lost a ported 13B to learn that.

 

Yea, I learned the same way on a 12A. Live and learn.
hanman