Running straight water

O

oldford

Senior Member
I’m thinking about running straight water in my ford radiator. Anyone had any experience with a good rust prevented to add to the water to prevent rust in the block.
 
I use Distilled Water and Purple Ice.

Purple Ice has good rust inhibiters in it as well as stuff to break the surface tension of the water which may help to run cooler.

I have this in several of my cars and have had very good results. I have aluminum components on some of the engines and I experience no corrosion, BUT I feel you have to run Distilled Water and add only Distilled water as necessary. I change the stuff every two years.

I also run this combination in my Vintage Race Car where they will not let us run Anti-Freeze. It is too hard to clean up if dumped on the track.

This is what I have done for many years with very good results.

Chris
 
In my experience here and in colder climates, there is no better corrosion protection for iron than that provided by 50/50 (or what is recommended in your zip code) ethylene glycol antifreeze.

That includes tap water, distilled water, reverse osmosis water, soluble oil, Prestone (and other big MFGs of antifreeze) Anti-Rust, and the ever expanding variety of "water-wetters" etc. It is clear to me after some studies that I read about in the '80's that Prestone (and other MFGs') anti-rust additive products were designed to be added to their antifreeze, after a year or so, to restore pH buffering capacity, which is a crucial factor in corrosion protection, and not to plain or even esoterically purified water.

There are some die-hard depression-era mentality types here who insist that freezes here are so rare (except for the last the last three years of consecutive -20°F temps) that they do not need antifreeze and try to save a few pennies. They then wonder why they get leaks in heads and block water jackets or frank cracks after mild freezes.

The reason is that plain water/purified water dissolves CO2 from the atmosphere and becomes acidic and eats their iron engine out from the inside out. Why let that happen to yours?
 
I do not know where you live, but if it freezes then use 50/50 antifreeze. If it never freezes use a combination rust preventative & water pump lubricant available in many auto parts stores.
 
30ccpickup said:
I am using WaterWetter http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=74&pcid=10. WaterWetter claims to help with overheating. There are previous threads that debate their claims. Do a search on the Fordbarn and make your own opinion. I figured, I would use it for the rust inhibitor, and if it helps with the water temperature that would be a bonus.
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Same here in south florida. I was worried about the antifreeze affecting the paint if it were to boil over and a few years ago there was quite a few posts about the antifreeze foaming up. I decided to go with distilled water and water wetter.
 
From H & H in Cresenton, CA I purchase a long block model A built to the touring specifications with all of the modern bells and whistles added. They directed me to use only water until it was broke in. I used a wettinng agent and just water and the engine hardly ever overheated during the break in period, unlike in the past when I had used 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water with other new engines. Now that it is broke in, I am using the antifreeze mix. Straig water cools better that the antifreeze mix. With a wetting agent added, the straight water cools even better. In our home garage years ago, my wife drove our fairly new Lincoln in with a leaking heater hose spraying antifreeze onto the hot manifold. When I raised the hood to see the problem, it allowed enough air into the engine area that the antifreeze burst into near invisible flames. The heat pushed me back in an instant. I put the antifreeze fire out with a garden hose. The car would have burst into flames if it wasn't for the handy garden hose. Apparently the antifreeze mix was too heavy on the antifreeze side. It was like an alcohol fire. Low heat with near invisible flames. Straight water with a wetting agent is better if you can use it.
 
When i was touring last summer,it was in the 100's some. I ran water wetter and distilled water-no antifreeze. The car never overheated.

When I pulled the head this winter the entire block and head was full of rust.
I flushed it with oxalic acid and washing soda,so it is now clean.

I am going to use anti freeze now. Even the water wetter instructions say use some anti freeze for street use.

Every one has opinions on this. This is just my experience.
 
In the summer I use distilled water and Water Wetter, in the winter I switch to 50/50 antifreeze. The car has a 180* thermostat and good radiator. In the summer I have seen the cooling difference on my temperature gauge, the water with Water Wetter does run about 10* cooler in my car.
Hope this helps.
 
I was under the impression water was better for old cars too, but worried that if I worked on someones car, and they didn't drain it properly and stored it cold(like many do with the high cost of heating a garage) that I would be part blame for cracking a block.
So I spoke with a mechanic from a museum and he told me to never use just water because there is always a little left in the block when you drain it, plus it doesn't cool as well.. He recommended the environmentally safe stuff from NAPA, I can't remember the name, maybe Sierra?
Anyway it's been working great up here, even though it only gets in the high 80's for summer, it gets real cold in winter.
 
oldford said:
I’m thinking about running straight water in my ford radiator. Anyone had any experience with a good rust prevented to add to the water to prevent rust in the block.
Click to expand...

A marginal cooling system may benefit from running straight water. However, the absence of rust inhibiters may eventually cause enough restriction in water passages to outweigh the benefits of running straight water. Here's what an internet site has to say:

The specific heat of water is 1 calorie/gram °C = 4.186 joule/gram °C which is higher than any other common substance. The specific heat of a 50/50 water/ethylene glycol solution is 0.85 joule/gram C.

The specific heat capacity of ethylene glycol based water solutions are less than the specific heat capacity of clean water. For a heat transfer system with ethylene glycol the circulated volume must be increased compared to a system with clean water.
In a 50% solution with operational temperatures above 36 degrees F the specific heat capacity is decreased by approximately 20%. The reduced heat capacity must be compensated by circulating more fluid.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethylene-glycol-d_146.html
 
MrTube said:
Lets not forget antifreeze also raises the boiling point quite a bit with a 50% mix.
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True, but to derive any benefit from the raised boiling point, the system must be pressurized. It is extremely foolish to run straight water in a modern, pressurized cooling system. I think I have seen modern, pressurized radiators for sale for hotrods that might fit in a Model A. Then you could take advantage of the higher boiling point!
 
Paul,

I may be mistaken but I am fairly certain antifreeze raises the boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure substantially to something around 230-245F. Pressurizing the system also raises it even higher to around 260F.
 
MrTube said:
Paul,

I may be mistaken but I am fairly certain antifreeze raises the boiling point at normal atmospheric pressure substantially to something around 230-245F. Pressurizing the system also raises it even higher to around 260F.
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You are absolutely correct. But the difference in specific heat value between water that boils at a lower temperture and the specific heat value of a 50/50 mix that might boil at a higher temperture cancels out any benefit as far as heat tranfer is concerned. In English, even though a 50/50 mix might boil at a higher temperature, an equal volume of straight water absorbs much more heat at a lower temperture than the same volume 50/50 mix can at a higher temperture. Therfore straight water is a superior cooling medium regardless of temperture in non-pressurized systems. No rust protection though. Remember, temperature and heat are two very different things. Overheating is caused by heat, not by temperture. Modern cooling systems run fine way above 212 degrees and cause no overheating problems. Your model A cooling system will overheat and fail at or below 212 degrees. Temperture is not the cause of overheating. Excess heat is! You need a modern, pressurized cooling system to take advantage of the higher boiling point of a 50/50 mix. In a Model A, the engine will overheat faster with a 50/50 mix. It takes less heat to get that mix to its higher boiling point, than it takes to get staight water to its lower boiling point given equal volumes of liquid.
 
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