FWIW, the factory stated that ONLY clean distilled-type plain water
needed to be installed
in our cars, and that "Anti-Freeze" was to be used, seasonally, when the
weather got below-
freezing, and, to protect an air-conditioned car from having its
cooling-water FREEZE up,
in the winter time.
I went 'around' with several people, a couple years ago, and, I
(really-) just
happen to have the 57 Dodge Service manual in my lap, so, if I might
quote, therefrom
(assuming that clean water is as clean, now, as it was, in 1957) :
" Only clean, soft water filled to 1 1/4" (approximately) below the
bottom of the filler neck,
should be used in the radiator and the cooling system of the engine.
Hard water will form a scale, not
only in the radiator core, but in the engine block and head as well."
....later, In boldface : "Every time the cooling system is drained and
refilled with water, a recommended
rust inhibitor (available thru the Parts Department) must be added."
Then: " Anti-freeze is recommended for use in the cooling system when
the temperature is likely
to be below 32 degrees F. Other anti-freeze solutions that are
serviceable are denatured alcohol,
methanol (synthetic wood alcohol) and ethylene glycol, when suitable
inhibitors are added.
Cars equipped with air conditioning must use a glycol-base permanent
type anti-freeze in the cooling system
throughout the entire year...this precaution is necessary inasmuch as
the air conditioner evaporator
lies in close proximity to the heater core, which may cause coolant in
heater core TO FREEZE
[my emphasis] if system is not protected."
BTW, if the radiator top tank is not over-filled, to begin with (the
water level should be just
above the top of the internal cooling core) and, if the radiator cap
(14psi recommended) is
operating properly, that "over-flow" tube, along the top of the
radiator, will ONLY have
to expell excess AIR PRESSURE from the cooling system, and no coolant
will have been lost.
At least, that's precisely what the SERVICE MANUAL has to say on the
subject of water, and
coolant, and radiator caps.
Neil Vedder--who uses a 50/50 mixture of water/anti-freeze in his car,
year around.
Paul Holmgren wrote:
Ok, after this subject has been beat to death several times, and after
a lot of
reading, both reports, and manufacturing claims, and taking into
account direct
experiences, I think I have figured out the main thing we need to so
for our
vintage cars surviving this sort of modern automotive chemistry.
OVERFLOW tanks, of any sort that allows an overflow radiator cap AND
fluid
maintained in the tank. THE reason seems to be that NO air is to be in
the
cooling system at all. I think all current formulations being sold
today are of
this nature. The only way to do this is to purge as much air out of
the cooling
system and to maintain the same mix in the overflow tank. As the final
bit of
air gets purged by the normal operation of the system then the fluid
that is
used will not break down as fast in the cooling system. The
particulates that
settle out and develop the crud that blocks the heater core and other
small
passages then does not happen (normally), sometimes as fast as 6 - 12
months.
This short time span breakdown I have personally seen and experienced
in systems
comparable to the 55 - 65 cooling system designs.
I think the first signs of the breakdown can be seen in the overflow
tanks as a
film of buildup of the particulates as they settle out of the fluids
exposed to
air in the overflow tank.
All one should have to do for the 2 or so years between changes is to
make sure
that the overflow container never runs dry during the periods that you
operate
your car.
I personally will still adhere to the 2 year change out cycle,
regardless of the
vintage automobile. We have seen the desirability of doing this even
with modern
cars.
AND above all else, Do Not Mix Types of coolant in the same system.
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