Radiator Cooler x Water

[estevaf]

Hello There.
I was wondering... When my car got back from the shop last time (it was getting the water pump replaced), the radiator water came with a green color. I never though the color made any diffence, but a dude said it should be white for an engine that age. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, I would like to ask you guys whether you use the same mix we use on today´s car in your MII radiator (i.e., 50% water / 50% coolant).
In other words, should I use 50x50 mixtures or the older cars would require a different mix.

The reason I am asking is that I have noticed one curious thing on my MII: When it got back with the radiator refilled, the temp gauge never reached the mid point again (it indicates that the engine is running cooler that it was before).

Any clues?

Thanks.
Andre.

 

[LedZ 5.0]

I never heard of the coolant color being white. That's news to me. My coolant is always green. I use one gallon of anti freeze and top the system off with water. Some people swear by a 50-50 mix. I have never had a problem with the mix I use.

 

[Stang2Man]

if your coolant is white, it's usually indicative of oil in the coolant, why anyone would want that I have no idea. My cars usually run around the 50/50 mix in em. Whenever my temp needle started gettin to midway, is when I started to get scared. Mine usually run cooler than midway, anything above that I start keeping an eye on the thermostat and the other stuff

 

[zwhitr]

Green or blue ----antifreeze temp should be in the 180 range should you have a 180 thermostat in it

50/50 mix whatever it takes to keep the block from freezing although antifreeze also keep it from boiling by raising the boiling point I lived in San Antonio I ran mostly water there alittle coolant to keep the water pump quiet.

 

[estevaf]

Thanks for the inputs, guys!

Btw, regading the anti-freezing... I live in Brazil! I doubt it would ever freeze one day, even if it is 100% water

 

[Blue Thunder]

The other important factor with anti-freeze is that it's also a rust inhibitor. Water is more thermally conductive than coolant, so the more water you run, the more efficient the cooling system becomes. You add coolant to the water for the side-benefits, such as the obvious lower freezing point, rust prevention, and higher boiling point.
I run a 50/50 mix in my car when I park it for the winter, and when it wakes up in spring, I drain the system and refill with maybe 1/2 gal of coolant, and the rest pure distilled water.

 

[kcobra78]

You should never run more than a 50% combo of water and anti-freeze. The benefits of anti-freeze are as stated, but too much will actually reduce the amount of cooling capability. I only drive my car in the summer, so I use a 20% solution of anti-freeze and water, but I also add a bottle of WaterWetter. When I am ready to park it in winter, I add anti-freeze back to a 50% solution because the winter here are really cold.

 

[Wart]

North americans are use to seeing mostly glycol based antifreeze.

I'll bet milky antifreez is alcohol based. I seem to remember coming across white coolent a hand full of times and thinking something was wrong till I smelt alcohol.

I can think of plenty of reasons to not use alcohol coolant in a tropical climate. However let's not forget 'enviromentally friendly' coolents haven't been around that long. Maybe Brazil wouldn't let the stuff in country back then.

Just speculation.

Trivia: Urban legend?

Rumor has it glycol antifreeze was 'discovered' during WWII when it was noticed rivers (etc) downstream of industrial sites weren't freezing. It was thought the lack of ice was due to the water being warm until they realized warm water wasn't explaning why the river(s) took so long and such a distance to refreeze. Rumor is there were tests done of the waste and they found glycol. The rest is history.

Least , that's what I was told.

 

[77sleeper]

bet that made pilots happy and MECH sad, propolyne glycol is fun

 

[Blue Thunder]

You should never run more than a 50% combo of water and anti-freeze. The benefits of anti-freeze are as stated, but too much will actually reduce the amount of cooling capability. I only drive my car in the summer, so I use a 20% solution of anti-freeze and water, but I also add a bottle of WaterWetter. When I am ready to park it in winter, I add anti-freeze back to a 50% solution because the winter here are really cold.

Also, did you know that pure anti-freeze will freeze before a 50/50 mix will??