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Antifreeze Warning

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judow

judow

Darth Vader - R.I.P
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At our local car club meeting last evening there was discussion/lecture about today's modern antifreeze and its effect on those of us with old cars. Indeed this was brought to our attention by the owner of the Old Car Garage who has seen these problems often in the last few years. For what it's worth I felt the need to pass it on. Perhaps some of you are aware of the pitfalls in using the 'new and improved' antifreeze.

https://www.rrbew.co.uk/Pdfs/Derek%20Harris%20Antifreeze%202009%20V8.pdf
 
I don't use it in anything I have! I've been told that if it's green, it's ok to use in older cars. If you do use the new stuff, I understand you must flush all the old out as the two don't mix and start with a clean system. PJ
 
Ah, but read the article.
They make the "bad" stuff in green!

Several years ago, the MORONS in the Early Ford V-8 Club had an article published about ONLY using DISTILLED WATER in cooling systems!

It stupidity like that caused me to bolt.

Read what the author has to say about distilled water in cooling systems.
 
I'm no chemist but a few things sound strange to me. Page 7 3rd paragraph he states that mains water "contains some good things that help stop corrosion"... like what? Further down the page he then states how mains water "may have excessive solids, hardness, clorides or sulfates" and then goes on to say how local water may add other chemicals that are not recommended for cooling systems.

Now as I understood people buy distilled water precisly because they don't contain all these chemicals and yet in paragraph 2 page 7 he states that "distilled water is the most corrosive". To me seems to be a contradiction there.

I googled this about distilled water:
Natural water usually contains a number of microscopic contaminants, along with dissolved minerals such as calcium and iron. One way to remove these elements from water is to boil it until it changes to steam, a process known as distillation. When this steam is allowed to cool down and condense into liquid form again, the result is a purified form called distilled water. Distilled water should ideally be nothing but hydrogen and oxygen molecules, with a PH level of 7 and no additional gases, minerals or contaminants.

Also from Wikipedia I found this:
Distilled water is also commonly used to top off lead acid batteries used in cars and trucks. The presence of other ions commonly found in tap water will cause a drastic reduction in an automobile's battery lifespan.

Distilled water is preferable to tap water for use in automotive cooling systems. The minerals and ions typically found in tap water can be corrosive to internal engine components, and can cause a more rapid depletion of the anti-corrosion additives found in most antifreeze formulations.[3]

Distilled water is also preferable to tap water for use in model steam engine boilers and model engines of other types. Mineral build-up resulting from the use of tap water in model boilers can severely reduce the efficiency of the boilers if run for long periods. This build-up is known as boiler scale.

Finally I personally believe Distilled water is best for our radiators as it's a poor electrolytic and electrolosis causes corrosion yes.

Found this on Answers.com :

Why distilled water is a non electrolyte and tap water is weak electrolyte?
because water itself, in its pure form H2O does not conduct electricity. what actually conducts electricity in water are the ions of other materials, which are present in tap water - various water treatment chemicals, metals, salts and minerals...
so since distilled water does not contain, or contains very few, of these other molecules, it is not considered an electrolyte.

So for me useing distilled water is the way to go.
Cannot comment about the anti-freeze but I had been told that too strong a solution of anti-freeze was bad.
 
But, they said distilled water ONLY for the EFV-8 group.....NO anti-freeze.....and the casting residue that continually works off the bottom of the cooling passages for oh, 60 to 70 years on flatties, mixed with distilled water, makes it worse than any tap water....and you've lost the protection of the AF for rust inhibiting AND freezing.

Distilled in batteries, yes, as the specific gravity keeps it from being an issue.....but not in cooling systems.

You wouldn't believe the gyrations they go through with "ex-spurts" on cooling.
Vacuum gauges on cooling system, multiple temp senders, 195 degree thermostats (on a flattie......)
 
OIC, understand now. Well for me I was meaning distilled water PLUS the anti-freeze of your choice. I'd never use just water on it's own except in emergency get you home type thing.
 
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