[CamellionCat]

ok in my car im running pure anifreeze not a drop of water, is this good or bad, i live in Miami in which is really hot here, what do you guys recommend??????

Marvin M.

 

[392Bird]

Anything above 50% reduces the ability of the fluid to extract heat from the engine. The only plus side, is it will slightly raise the boiling point, but this is much better done with a radiator cap with a 1-2 psi increase. You raise the boiling point of the system about 3 degrees for each 1 pound of pressure increase. Since you live in FL, you can use the most efficient mix of 40% antifreeze, and 60% water.

These water wetters on the market claim to help, but the jury is still out on them as far as I am concerned

 

[CamellionCat]

ok so i need more water than antifreeze???

how do i mix withe 60% water and 40% antifreeze, do i put the car on neutral run it until it gets warmed up, then open the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator and fill the radiator with water until the temperature drops?????? will running antifreeze raise the temperature on the car???????? especially in this hot weather down here in florida?????

thanks for the help dude.
Marvin M.

 

[White Lightning]

DRAIN about a gallon out, the drain on the radiator, and add one gallon of DISTILLED water. It will fully mix as soon as you drive. Distilled water has no minerals and will help prevent buildups. ($.79 a gallon at any grocery store) Do this as soon as you can, you can harm the car the way you have it.

Scott

 

[392Bird]

With the car cold, get a bucket and clean it out. Poor 1 gal of water in it, and note the level, or mark the 1 gal level. Poor the water out. Now place the bucket under the radiator drain, and drain out 1 gal of coolant. Close the drain, and fill the radiator with water. (Distilled is best) There will be some air in the system now, so check the level in the surge tank (over flow)after the car has came up to temp, then cooled down a few time as the air is forced out, and water pulled in from the surge tank. This will get you close enough to 40% anti freeze, 60% water if you had 100% antifreeze.

I keep a few old antifreeze jugs, and when I flush mine every 3 years, I buy 1 gal antifreeze, and poor 1/2 of it into old jug, and then fill them both with distilled water, and poor them in. I mark on the jug that still has some in it, "Mixed" This can be added as needed as the system gets the air out, and to add as needed at a latter time.

 

[Sir William]

In Miami, you could EASILY get by with just distilled water and DEFINITELY add a bottle of Water Wetter. If you're really set on having some antifreeze, a couple of quarts would be enough to push your freezing point to down near zero degrees farenheit.

Antifreeze is NOT good at carrying heat away from your engine. Water is much better and water with Water Wetter is much better than that. I never run more than 20-25% AF in my vehicles.

 

[3.8_Special]

What is water weter and where do you buy it??

 

[WaLieN]

What is water weter and where do you buy it??

Watter wetter is a coolant system addative, which increases the performance of water, enabling it to pull more heat. It also claims to reduce cylinder head temperatures, corrosion and electrolysis of all metals. When added to hard water, it reduces the scales. It's said to be good stuff, I use it, in both my Watercooled Computers and my Tbird. In my computer, I do notice lower temperatures, in my car, it's really difficult to tell with such an inaccurate guage. It can be bought @ most automotive stores, like Pep Boys, for about $6. You just basically pour a bottle of it in your overflow tank, and it'll work its magic.

 

[anomnity]

and make sure you check the % with a anti-freeze meter..($7)

because electrolysis can be really really bad....and for safe keeping...you should check the water in the radiator for any voltage evey once in a while...if sign of some voltage better change or electrolysis will kick in.

 

[brahma101]

Re: ok so i need more water than antifreeze???

do i put the car on neutral run it until it gets warmed up, then open the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator and fill the radiator with water until the temperature drops

Um...I don't think its a real good idea to mess with it while the car is hot...

 

[ShadowDragon]

and make sure you check the % with a anti-freeze meter..($7)

because electrolysis can be really really bad....and for safe keeping...you should check the water in the radiator for any voltage evey once in a while...if sign of some voltage better change or electrolysis will kick in.

Exactly, I've seen way too many cars in this area try to run full water since it doesn't get all that cold here and everything in their coolant system is rusting from the inside out.

 

[Willow9238]

I agree with Marvin

My coolant system started to do that and I caught it b4 it did some real damage. So, u still have to run coolant in ur engine.

 

[birdofprey]

PURE WATER OR PURE ANTIFREEZE = BAD IDEA

Sir Willaim, et. al.
Please do not advise people to use PURE WATER in their coolant systems. Straight water obviously provides no freezing protection, no boilover protection beyond 212 degrees F, and no corrosion protection. Therefore, as you know, straight water should never be used in a cooling system.

About a year or so ago, I wrote a piece on the other board (b4 forums) about the various coolants and heat capacities, and since I didn't save that handi-work, I'm in no position to re-create it now.

However, a brief tutorial: Ethylene glycol (EG), the main ingredient in conventional antifreeze, freezes at about 8 degrees F, boils at 330 degrees F, but as you point out, carries heat about 15 percent less efficiently than PURE water (which we never have. Even if you use RO, or 2X distilled, the minute you put it into your radiator...it is contaminated!).

Most vehicle manufacturers recommend a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water for optimum year-round protection. A 50/50 mix provides freezing protection down to minus 34 degrees F and boilover protection to 228 degrees F.

Straight ethylene glycol antifreeze also should never be used because it needs to be mixed with water (35 percent or more) to lower the solution's freezing point. Straight antifreeze also cools less efficiently than a mixture of antifreeze and water. Running straight antifreeze can raise metal operating temperatures inside an engine 70 to 80 degrees, which may be enough to cause galling problems in the exhaust valves. The maximum concentration of antifreeze should never exceed, IMO 65 percent.

Too much antifreeze is also bad becasue the additives (buffers and silicates) to prevent corrosion, can cause gelling. The silicate corrosion inhibiting additives that are found in most "aluminum-safe" antifreezes can drop out of suspension, forming a gel or greenish goo that clogs the radiator and reduces heat transfer.

A thorough job of revitalizing the coolant, therefore, requires more than adding fresh antifreeze to the radiator or doing a simple drain and fill. It requires flushing the system to remove all traces of the old coolant, cleaning the cooling system if necessary to remove accumulated rust and scale, then refilling the cooling system with a properly balanced mixture of water and new or recycled antifreeze.

One other point, Polyethegylcol (PG) is alos used in coolant systems. PG has been used without diluting with water (PG is a.k.a. enviro-friendly).

The glycols PG, or EG don't get used up in the system, but the buffers that prevent corrosion do. That is the reason why you need to maintin the coolant integrity at regular intervals...not just every 4-5 years. I exchange my coolant every 24K miles. Coolant is cheap and doing the changeover is easy.


But PLEASE people...DON'T USE ONLY WATER!

 

[Sir William]

That's good info. Do you think you could provide us with the entire text of that article? I'd like to have it in the archives here.

Also, I'd forgotten about the AF's ability to raise the boiling point. I was only thinking about the other end of the scale. Very good points indeed. Lemme know.

 

[AverageJoe]

A simple question about our cooling systems in reference to the coolant/water mixture. I only ask this because I don't have an owner's manual for my car.

How much does the cooling system on my 95 4.6L LX hold? Only a couple gallons or is it more than that?