Coolant?

[Railroad]

Trying to get everything ready for the first start.
With a new crate engine, I plan on putting the selected coolant in from the start.
Any suggestions on the brand to use. I feel pretty good about the name brand stuff, even premixed 50/50. Thought I would ask here, due to vast experience, what brand is favored most.
Thanks,
I can be convinced to run distilled water on first start, listening,,,,

[edwardb]

I'm personally not a fan of starting out with all water. Guess I have more faith than that... Don't like having to drain it back out, hope I get the right amount out for the proper mix, etc. But since we have well water, I always use pre-mix. I usually get one of the name brands on sale at the time at our local parts store. #8674 has Peak in it. I think they're all pretty good.

[Railroad]

Thanks edwardb. I always feel comfortable with your suggestions.

[scottiec]

I bought napa brand premixed old school green

[NAZ]

I usually start my engines on a test stand with water only to ensure I have no leaks. If I was to do a first start in the car I'd fill with tap water (hard well water up here) for the same reason. Once everything checks out I drain all the water from the radiator, hoses, and block (using the block drain plugs where applicable) and a bit of compressed air helps. I'm a believer in running a 50/50 coolant mix and living in snow country it's a must. Some coolants are designed to last longer than others and if I was building a street only car I'd be tempted to select one of these. My latest car is a drag racer and the engine has to come out every two-years to re-certify some of the critical components so long lasting coolant is not necessary. I use Peak 50/50 pre-mix only because I've used it for years without any problems. But I also don't leave it in there for more than 5-years.

[Jim1855]

I was never real particular about the actual coolant but get one appropriate for the system's components. Some varieties are not good for aluminum but this may no longer be the case. A normal mix is usually good and the coolant is a lubricant for the waterpump, so some coolant is almost mandatory.

ALWAYS use distilled water, it's just not that expensive. Tap and especially well water may contain minerals that are very bad for cooling systems.

I like using Red Line Water Wetter.

I only replaced one really expensive radiator because I was stupid/lazy/cheap and used well water.

Jim

[Railroad]

I am a believer in Water Wetter also. I like the point of breaking down the film strength or something like that.

[Dave Howard]

Name brand orange stuff as per Ford recommendations. You can mix your own with distilled water from the grocery store / pharmacy. Fill up the engine with the proper ratio (50:50) for the first start and you're set for years of reliable driving. No need to drain again. Fill and bleed the air out of the cooling system. Start it up. Confirm you have coolant flow and move on. Anything more than this is a waste of time.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Used Fords Motorcraft orange coolant. Cut 50/50 with distilled water.

[CraigS]

I find that red or orange is a lot easier to see in the sight tube on my reservoir.

[rich grsc]

A new engine, or a complete rebuild, use Dex-cool, or the Ford version of the same. It is what is being used in all new cars. The reason being, it has far superior protection for aluminum engine components that the green stuff.
When I built my new engine it what I used, same has my F-150, only have to buy and keep one type in the garage.

[scottiec]

oh man. Just rebuild my short block and added aluminum heads. Should I be switching coolants?

[Railroad]

It looks like Ford likes their Motorcraft orange for the Boss, Shelbys, Cobra, etc.

https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.com/main/quickref/coolantsEN.pdf

[phileas_fogg]

I personally started with distilled water, because I'd never connected a radiator hose and didn't want it to blow off & spew anti-freeze all over my engine compartment. I put in about 3 1/2 gallons of distilled water, and then replace about half that with anti-freeze before the winter.

To further this discussion, my understanding is that you use anti-freeze to lower the freezing point (duh!), and water to increase the coolant density and thus the heat transfer. In other words, if you run distilled water, it'll freeze at 32* and crack your engine block, but if you run 100% anti-freeze it won't cool your engine properly.

In colder climates, it's not uncommon to run 60-70% anti-freeze, which leads me to believe that so long as your operating temperature remains stable and reasonable, a 50/50 mix is not absolutely critical. A quart either way won't make a huge difference.

I anxiously await some education!


John

[NAZ]

Yes, you can adjust the anti-freeze ratio to suit your application but is that really necessary?

Pure water does have the ability to carry more heat than a mixture of water and anti-freeze which makes it a good choice for heat transfer until it gets near it's boiling point and that's where there is more to the story. The high surface tension of water can actually be detrimental to heat transfer when temps get close to the boiling point. A mixture of anti-freeze and water has more going for it than simply depressing the freezing point and lubricating the water pump. It has a lower surface tension and higher boiling point than pure water making it a better choice for higher temperature cooling. Of course there are surfactants, corrosion inhibitors and soluble lubes you can use with pure water to address some of water's shortcomings as an engine coolant but there's still that pesky boiling point to deal with. So while you give up some heat transfer (BTW, automotive engineers have already accounted for this when they designed the radiator for a specific application) you gain in other areas so why would you want to play chemist with your coolant so that you can run pure water when you could simply crack open a can of pre-mixed coolant and forget about it?

[flynntuna]

Does anyone here use Evans waterless coolant?
https://www.evanscoolant.com

[rich grsc]

Does anyone here use Evans waterless coolant?
https://www.evanscoolant.com
Snake Oil :rolleyes:

[Jim1855]

I've run Evans but not by choice. It was in my 2nd Superformance. I flushed it when I changed engines, PITA, took many water changes to get it out.

There are many chemical and thermal advantages to Evan's right up to the time that you have to replace or refill it. Then there's the chance that you'll spring a leak and have oil all over. Incase you didn't know Evans is oil based.

Great stuff when everything goes well and you don't make any changes. I'm in & out of an engine compartment way too often for the hassle.

Jim

[phileas_fogg]

I don't think anyone was advocating running pure water for the long term; at least I wasn't. My point was that getting the mix EXACTLY 50/50 after you've run distilled water for a couple of starts/go-karts isn't really necessary - at least not on a street machine.

But this point is based only on book reading, not hard experience.


John

[JimLev]

Does anyone here use Evans waterless coolant?
https://www.evanscoolant.com

I have a few BMW friends that use it in their V8's as the normal operating temp for our engines is 108C. The side tanks on the radiators and the expansion tanks are plastic which deteriorate over time leading to leaks or an instant dump of the coolant. The cap is rated at 2 bar (29PSI) which usually allows the other components to blow before the cap vents.
With Evans there is no system pressure, they can leave the cap loose.
If you replacing your water based coolant you need to get all of the old coolant out, including the heater core before you switch to Evans. They do sell a flush that can assist in absorbing the old coolant after you've drained it out.

[1932]

I start with distilled water, it can a time before on the road and starting engine. Had to work on hoses and needed to remove radiator, the antifreeze makes a problem. after all is good then 50/50.

[Bob Cowan]

Like many have said before me, I never start a new/rebuilt engine with anti-freeze of any kind. I run it through a few heat cycle and look for leaks. If all is well, then I'll add anti-freeze. I also like a surfactent, like Water Wetter.

Since you live in the south, you really only need to run about 20-25% antifreeze. Water is a better conductor of heat than anti-freeze. The more water in the system, the more efficient it will be. But you need some anti-freeze for lubrication and metal protection.

[Avalanche325]

I am also a fan of water only for the initial start. Don't leave it that way for long though. Corrosion inhibitors are pretty much are right up there with the anti-freeze part.
The waterless stuff has far too many disadvantages for me.