coolant

[Bill Bayard]

With warmer weather is on it's way,

what coolant, additives, ratios of

coolant to water, etc., will everyone be

running this summer?

I'm just seeking opinions on the best

products and/or mixtures available. Thx!


Bill

[JayT]

Have you been out scaring the neighbors yet?

[Bill Bayard]

What do you mean, Jay? My neighbors love me!
I had a friend tweak a few things on my engine today, and then went for a test drive.
My next door neighbor was thrilled, as I almost spun out, exiting my driveway! I thought it was fast before, but now......
HOLY $#!T!
As for my neighbor, he'll either develop a sense of humor, or invest in some good earplugs!
How's your car coming along? Any new pics?

Bill

[chip]

Distilled water and Red Line water wetter. cb

[JayT]

Bill, its comming but we have not had time to do much work in the last couple of weeks - we are out looking at colleges.

Hey Chip, I was excited to see the pic of the car and glad to hear it has crunk ;-) Did you do any before & after testing on the Cobra with the Redline water wetter? The theory sounds good, but I have always wondered if the real life difference could be measured.

[chip]

Lynn: I am anti additive EXCEPT for water wetter (other exception: Gumout for carbs, partic those who have sat around with gas in them for a long time without Stabil added-oh yea-Stabil. Was a lawn mower mehanic growing up and would get engines thathas set all winter. Briggs have a check ball in the fuel pipe that would stick: Gumout plus banging on the fuel tank did the job)

Go to the watter wetter site and read and see what you think: Two factors: 1. Pure Water is the best (common everyday) conductor of heat. Anti freeze DECREASES heat conductivity of the fluid. Does have corosion inhibitors (so does Water Wetter). Also, antifreeze creates a traction hazard. I understand that drag cars (NHRA) and others (NASCAR?) do not allow antifreeze cause it makes the racing surface very slick when it gets out.
2. Watter wetter has a chemical effect on water to give it "more surface" thus better ability to conduct heat away from the engine.

The problem is that many fairly good motor sports studies used pure water AND water wetter. You had two variables present that could effect the decrease in running temp. Both had an effec vs antifreeze/water mix alone.

There does seemto be evidence that water wetter does help. I have heard nothing bt good about it. One import shop here in town said that Watter Wetter is added to new Mercedes cooling mix. Did quite a bit of study looking for ways to keep the car running cool in Atlanta traffic. Shrouding around the radiator would help as well as sealng around the radiator the direct as much air thru the radiator as possible.

Water wetter and water seemed to help. You might want to search some of the sites and see what has been said and printed and see what you think. Felt it is cheap enough to try ($6.95 a bottle at Pep Boys), but MAY be another urban myth. Now that oil you can drain out and run an engine wit no oil and it keeps on goin forever might be good in a 40......cb

[dave harris]

I've never use Red-line Water Wetter in a Car engine, but have used it extensively in Kart Racing engines (80, 125 and 250 gearbox classes). I have seen as much as 15 to 18 degree decrease in temperatures in racing conditions with sustained high revs (12 to 14,000 rpms during 30 minute to 1 hour races). I don't know how this would translate to "normal" driving or street traffic (engine idling and low water flow from the pump). Just my $0.02 worth.

[Mark Worthington]

The high-boost turbo guys swear by distilled water and water wetter, which works by decreasing the interfacial tension of water. A surfactant if you will. Problem is, its effectiveness drops to nill when you add glycol to the coolant mixture, so you lose anti-freeze protection. Maybe not a big deal for a garaged GT40 in Atlanta or Southern California, but unacceptable here in the northeast, unless you are diligent about replacing your coolant every fall and spring.

[Bill Bayard]

Mark,

You struck the nail on the head. Our winter
weather doesn't agree with non-glycol based coolant.
I am looking for the best compromise.
Any ideas/suggestions??? Move South maybe?

Bill

[Howard Jones]

50/50 distilled water and antifreeze

[Chris Notley]

WOW !! I know we often feel we get ripped off pound for dollar here in the UK but Red Line Water Wetter at $6.95 really is a steal.
You guys in the States don't know how well off you are. It costs $25.50 plus 17.5% sales tax, typically here.

[RichardH]

bearing in mind what I have read above, any particular antifreeze that you think is suitable for here in the UK. I suppose more as a corrosion inhibitor than anything else? Any ideas on OAT technology or something nice and simple?

[Larry]

I use Waterless Coolant. Evans makes a racing coolant known as NPGR which has a 400 degree F boiling point @ 7psi, Freezes -10 degrees F, Viscosity 2.0cp @ 212 degree F, Surface Tension 46dyn/cm and is track legal. It's not cheap, about $30/gal, but works great.

[David Morton]

Evans Cooling Systems FAQ
loads of questions and answers on NPG.
Some airports can get it here in the UK.
Howard's suggestion was good at 50/50 and will give protection to
-35c and 33/66(7?) down to -25c.

[RichardH]

thanks guys - mine is only a road car - so dont need anything sophisticated.

[Sandy]

I have used Redline water wetter and distilled water in the 65 mustang and it had a 10-15 degree drop over the antifreeze that I had before. For Evans, I'm not sure about it, but I don't recall it being ok for the track near me, but not many people check so doesn't matter until you blow your top.

Sandy

[RichardH]

Any ideas on particular antifreeze? red/yellow etc? OAT technology? or do you guys really not recommend a simple antifreeze/water mix for a road car.
Having just re-read your post, Dave, I am hoping I dont see -35 (or -25 for that matter) in Hampshire - I assume you dont see those temps too often in Marlow, either?

[David Morton]

Hi Richard,
Antifreeze has several functions apart from low temps and probably one of the most important is preventing corrosion. I tend towards 33/66 mix in all of our cars and I use the yellow mix Car Plan Blue Star (it's cheap) which advertises it contains the corrosion inhibitor. For what it's worth, the lowest temp we've seen this winter in the Thames Valley was -11c. (=12F)
Dave M

[John Fitzpatrick]

Another thing worth considering is that the dynamic viscosity of ethylene glycol solutions goes up from 0.48 centpoise at a 25% concentration to 0.88 at 50%. This, combined with a lowering of the specific heat of the solution vs pure water, require a flow increase of 14% for a 50% mix at 220 deg F to get the same heat transfer. The chart is from this site: Ethylene Glycol Heat-Transfer Fluid