Changing coolant for the winter

Redbird

Well-known member
What is the coolant capacity of 31 coupe. Is one gallon of Prestone concentrate enough? And top off with distilled water? I live in Central TX.
 
up here central alberta i make 3 gallons of coolant, 1 1/2gal prestone concentrate to 1 1/2gal water, i think the system hold about 3 gallons.

-30c to -40c is common in winter, even in my shop if i forget to leave the heat on a bit.

i think the instructions on the jusg say 50/50 . remember it is a coolant as well as antifreeze. i is good to use for summer driving as well. i never change it out between summer and winter, just test it to make sure its strong enough.
 
The anti-freeze protection doesn't wear out, fwiw, if that is a primary concern. The anti-corrosion additives do get used up.

Ethylene Glycol is interesting stuff, a safe bar bet to win - pure EG will freeze at about +10° F. it absolutely requires the addition and mixing with water to get extended freeze protection. 50/50 will get protection to -34° F., and for the real cold, a 70/30 mix of glycol and water is good to ... I dunno, but I'm staying inside with a cup of hot cocoa! The heck with that!
 
1 1/2 gallons of antifreeze to distilled water is what I have in the 31 go for around 25 below, northwestern Pennsylvania.
 
I changed mine out last week. Had distilled with VP Cool down for the summer. Wanted to change out to before the real deep freezes came to Upstate NY.
 
I mix 1 gallon of coolant to 2 gallons of distilled water. That will protect you down to zero degrees Fahrenheit.
I live in the Tehachapi mountains in Central Comifornia. I think you would be good to go in Texas assuming you don't have another one of your ice age episodes.
I think the people who sell coolant/anti-freeze, just want you to use as much as possible.
Wonder what the mix ratio is in Dubai? How about Death Valley, CA?

Tom L.
 
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I use
Prestone® Platinum All Vehicles
Antifreeze + CoolantConcentrate in all my cars. Only have to change it every Fifteen years and it is good for 350,000 miles I run it summer and winter in my Model A.
I do not understand why some people run water in summer and anti-freeze in winter. It is a coolant and anti-freeze.
Perhaps their radiators leak or clogged cooling system causes overheating and they don't want to get antifreeze on the vehicles paint ?
https://prestone.com/product/prestone-platinum-all-vehicles-antifreeze-coolant-concentrate/

Who remembers this stuff? You had to change it every three years.
 

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Tap Water

Tap water ... You mean like that stuff out of a garden hose?? Are you crazy?
 

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Distilled water is a waste of money. Tap water works fine.

Bob, I think that would depend a lot on where you live. Here in SoCal a majority of our 'tap' water is from the Colorado River and is really "Hard", filled with calcium and other minerals. Most of the rest is ground water.

Besides, distilled water is "only" 98¢ per gallon, haha.

 
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I make my own distilled water. That's what comes out of my dehumidifier all summer long. I can get 3 gallons in two days.
Marty
 
I make my own distilled water. That's what comes out of my dehumidifier all summer long. I can get 3 gallons in two days.
Marty



and Ive heard of people putting their "used" dental floss in the dishwasher too!
so they can use it again........
 
If you know an older model a owner who always ran just water in the summer, make sure they get protected from freezing up. Some people just don’t feel like going out into the garage and have a lot of other things going on. It’s very easy to forget as health problems come along. One of our members, got ill and forgot about his car and now he’s gone and the kids had to get a new engine.
 
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