antifreeze for winter months

FrankWest

FrankWest

Well-known member
I am almost afraid to ask this question but I have too.
My antifreeze is a mixture of antifreeze and distilled water. Should I drain that and use pure antifreeze for the winter months?
 
FrankWest said:
I am almost afraid to ask this question but I have too.
My antifreeze is a mixture of antifreeze and distilled water. Should I drain that and use pure antifreeze for the winter months?
Click to expand...

Depends on which part of Alaska you are in:confused:
 
Test the mixture to determine it's protective level. Generally a 50/50 mixture provides adequate protection at your location.
 
You currently have the ideal mixture. Come spring I would flush and run distilled with only 12-16 oz's of anti-freeze. Here on Oregon people at my age sometimes forget to flush again until its almost too late. :))
 
When you purchase antifreeze..It seems to come two ways..
One is ready to pour into your car, the other is concentrated that requires you mix.
 
51 MERC-CT said:
Test the mixture to determine it's protective level. Generally a 50/50 mixture provides adequate protection at your location.
Click to expand...
what does
Any undercover storage does not guarantee it will not freeze unless it is heated
mean? Antifreeze can still freeze at temps above zero Fahrenheit
 
The premixed basically ends up costing you twice as much as
the stuff you add your own water to.
 
Frank....Does your engine have Babbitt Bearings?

Ethylene-Glycol antifreeze that may leak into your crankcase lubricant can cause sludge,varnish and lubricant breakdown. Ethylene-Glycol can attack Babbitt bearings causing seizure. Use Sierra brand antifreeze if you have Babbitt bearings. It's a propylene glycol product.
 
Last edited:
50/50 antifreeze has a lower freeze point than 100%.
My grandfather in Montana had his Prestone freeze
in cold winters. Never the 50/50 in his truck.
 
Get a simple antifreeze tester such as this one for $3 at AutoZone (here: http://www.autozone.com/heating-and...ant-tester/peak-antifreeze-tester/525881_0_0/) and test it. That's the best way to know what temperature you're protected down to.

4


In a geographic zone such as where I live in Utah where the temperatures can go for 0 to 100° each year I do a special mix to have the best cooling capability in the summer and still protect to the temperature I need to in the summer. Water transfers heat better than antifreeze. So, ideally, in the summer you would just run water to cool the best. Well, where I live, that's not practical because that would mean changing the coolant twice a year (I did that for a few years but it got old). Also, propylene glycol antifreeze cools better than ethylene glycol does. So, I have found that if I use a mix of two gallons of propylene glycol with three gallons of distilled water I get the maximum cooling I can get without removing the antifreeze and running straight water in the summer, and, that amount of antifreeze protects me down to 10° in the winter which is good enough for me since my car is kept in an insulated garage that rarely gets below 50° in the winter and I just need the protection when I leave it out overnight at a motel during a winter road trip. I've not experienced lower than 17° at any motel in the winter. So, that's an optimal mix for where I live and how I use my car.


BTW, to test propylene glycol antifreeze you have to use the floating ball tester:

4


$1.50 at Autozone here: http://www.autozone.com/heating-and...r-floating-ball-antifreeze-tester/529701_0_0/
 
petehoovie said:
Frank....Does your engine have Babbitt Bearings?

Ethylene-Glycol antifreeze that may leak into your crankcase lubricant can cause sludge,varnish and lubricant breakdown. Ethylene-Glycol can attack Babbitt bearings causing seizure. Use Sierra brand antifreeze if you have Babbitt bearings. It's a propylene glycol product.
Click to expand...
Fantastic to know...you may have saved my car.
Is that available in most auto supple stores of do i have to order on line?
 
petehoovie said:
Frank....Does your engine have Babbitt Bearings?

Ethylene-Glycol antifreeze that may leak into your crankcase lubricant can cause sludge,varnish and lubricant breakdown. Ethylene-Glycol can attack Babbitt bearings causing seizure. Use Sierra brand antifreeze if you have Babbitt bearings. It's a propylene glycol product.
Click to expand...
Does this product really cost 100$ a gallon? that must be for 6 gallons, right?
 
Last edited:
FrankWest said:
wow..So 50 50 is the best way to go.
Thanks

I remember seeing the movie High Sierra with Bogart and the cabin keep was draining all the coolant out of the radiator for night time.
Click to expand...

They were probably running straight water back in those days. Parked in a shed for the winter with 50-50 ethylene glycol I have never seen any frost damage on an engine here in the great white north. The most likely occasion for anti freeze to gel is driving at highway speeds without a winter front covering the radiator.
 
RalphG said:
They were probably running straight water back in those days. Parked in a shed for the winter with 50-50 ethylene glycol I have never seen any frost damage on an engine here in the great white north. The most likely occasion for anti freeze to gel is driving at highway speeds without a winter front covering the radiator.
Click to expand...

Back in those days Alcohol was the anti-freeze being used if you didn't want to keep draining the system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top