Frozen pink antifreeze!

Rapidroy5858

Rapidroy5858

Member
Sep 23, 2018
82
LaPorte In.
Boat Info
1990 searay sundancer 270
Engines
Twin 4.3 mercruiser
After winterizing the boat I had a half gallon of -50 pink stuff left.
The temp dropped to -24 last night.
I had set the left over outside to see if it would freeze, this morning its solid as a rock.
Hoping I have not made a huge mistake using it.
My unheated barn was 0 degrees this morning.
Fingers crossed.
 
This is good to know! I have used it for years in my rv no issues but new to boating , cracked blocks are a bit more expensive than a burst water line.
 
Was it 100% pure or was is reclaimed after running through the engine and out the exhaust? If the later, do you do a complete drain of the engine or just run the A/F through till the exhaust looks pink?

Ive hear it will get slushy, but not heard of it turning solid.
 
I'm always learning something new on this site. Very interesting and good to know.
 
That's why I don't put the red pop (-50) stuff in my engines. I use the -100 as it will most likely get diluted somewhat by the water trapped in the engine (or in my case the heat exchanger circuit).
 
I just googled a video of frozen -50 antifreeze and the plastic jug wasnt expanded at all.

-28 at home. Windchill -55.

Luckily work sent me to California until the end of Feb. I feel bad for my family at home, but I still send them pictures of Long Beach!
 
So I thought I would clarify my original post.
As I stated we had sub zero air blow in here in Northwest Indiana. -27 Wed night.
After reading reies to my posts about the frozen solid pink stuff I decided I would have another look at it. I checked closer and discovered that it was NOT actually frozen like a block of ice but more like a very firm snow cone? Also there seemed to be no expansion.
That aside I'm still concerned , it is supposed to climb to 50 by monday, I plan to check for leaks when the engines have had a chance to warm(maybe put a small heater in bilge to help it.
Fingers crossed!
Thanks for all the replies and input, this is a great site for 1st time boat owners!
 
The AF is behaving exactly as it is designed, as mentioned above. You need to get "water" and how water behaves when frozen out of your mind. AF is different. It first turns to slush, then harder slush... but it won't EXPAND until it's rated burst pressure - in your case, -50*. You're good - nothing to worry about as long as you winterized it properly and didn't dilute the AF when you put it into the engines. Meaning, you fully drained the engines before pouring the AF in. I hope you didn't do what "YouTube" says is "OK" and simply ran the engines off a hose, then immediately switched to a big jug of pink stuff.

Also, don't get confused/worried by wind chill. Your engines won't be affected by that - at least not in any real way.

What kind of heater are you planning on using in your gasoline engine bilge? Use the wrong kind and you run the risk of possibly explosion. Certainly won't have any worries about frozen/cracked blocks, then!
 
I understand now the ratings on it, I kept going back to conventional antifreeze not realizing the pink stuff works differently.
If I do stick a heater in the bilge I will use a concealed element ceramic type. Not sure I will need to do it with temps rising here now.
 
Truthfully, even if the temps stay where they were you don't need it. It might make YOU feel better, but it doesn't really matter for the engines. Really, it would just be a waste of electricity.

If you do go with a heater, make sure it specifically designed for use in a gas bilge - it needs to be "ignition protected". Xtreme Heaters, for example.
 
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After draining everything, putting plugs back in, and filling the engine with AF while running it, I then drain out the anti-freeze also. I just use it to slosh around pockets of undrained water. No sense losing sleep during hibernation season.
 
My first thought reading this thread scared me to death. We have had a whole week of -25 to -30 deg F. It was simply too cold to go down to the boat during this time then we got almost 2 feet of snow.

I used about 10 gallons of pink winterizing the motors and other devices. I sure hope nothing is broken. I had a tiny bit left over that I was going to test but I had left it in the boat thinking I could get up there.

It’s -5 f right now and not going to get warmer today. We have nearly 4 feet of snow on the ground now so just getting close to the boat even though it’s in the front row will be tough. I have to work this week so there is no point in going down to the marina.
 
Bentwings said:
My first thought reading this thread scared me to death. We have had a whole week of -25 to -30 deg F. It was simply too cold to go down to the boat during this time then we got almost 2 feet of snow.

I used about 10 gallons of pink winterizing the motors and other devices. I sure hope nothing is broken. I had a tiny bit left over that I was going to test but I had left it in the boat thinking I could get up there.

It’s -5 f right now and not going to get warmer today. We have nearly 4 feet of snow on the ground now so just getting close to the boat even though it’s in the front row will be tough. I have to work this week so there is no point in going down to the marina.
Click to expand...
If you winterized properly (as mentioned a few times above), there's nothing to test and nothing to worry about. If you didn't the first time, read through each post more closely - you'll see that you're good.

Hard to say if 10 gallons is enough - your signature says "boatless".
 
The main motors internal AF was good for -40 and I added a little automotive AF to them. The gen was the same and I added to it also. The heat exchangers were all empty when I flushed “pink” through them so I think everything is is ok.

I drained the fresh water tank first. All faucets were opened. The boat is at a slight bow up attitude so I have to think the tank was pretty dry. Then I added “pink” to the tank and cycled each faucet with the pump including the head. Then I pumped “pink” through the heat exchanger of the AC. I also emptied the strainer and filled it with “pink” until thevautomatic pump came on. The shower and galley also drain into this so I think it’s ok.

I also ran the bilge pumps dry then poured the feast of the pink in the forward bilge. I ran all four bilge pumps until “pink came out. It took a while for AF to get to the rear bilge but it eventually did. The marina had pulled a 3/4 pipe plug out near the transom when they set the boat on the stands so there wasn’t much in the bilge.

I had no idea that the -50 “pink” would freeze. I never saw any other Marine or RV AF in the stores.

Sorry about the sig I forgot. I have a 34 foot express cruiser.
I’ll edit it later.
 
I live in St. Paul as well, never had a problem with the pink stuff. (knock on wood)
I drain the water from the block and the exchangers, then I pour it in through the hose that fills the block through the thermostat & then left and right exchanger hoses until I see pink come out the gimbal housing. I actually followed Eddies steps from Long Island Boaters Club. I have the same 5.0mpi.

 
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