Waterless Coolant?

[Wayne Maybury]

Turk

Aw, come on, be nice. I was just stating facts, not pointing any fingers at anyone. Actually, I was hoping that the water wetter would reduce my temperature slightly. It certainly costs a lot less than a new aluminium rad.

Brad

While I am not a chemist I do know that ethylene glycol (automotive antifreeze) is not a form of sugar. Actually if is a form of high molecular weight alcohol. It does have a sweet taste but that has nothing to do with sugar. The water wetter makes the water transfer heat more efficiently.

The reason that the glycol works as an antifreeze is that it has a lower freezing point not because it holds onto heat as you implied. Ethylene glycol has a freezing point of -13 degrees C or about + 7 F but that drops very quickly when mixed with water to the point where a 50/50 blend protects down to -40 C or F (the same at this point). The big danger with water freezing is that it expands when it freezes while almost all other liquids shrink when they crystalize.

One final point is that antifreeze does not work as well as water at cooling an engine since it simply doesn't transfer heat as efficiently as water. On the other hand it does have a much higher boiling point so it will give better boil over protection. I agree with you that straight water will cool an engine better than a water antifreeze blend.

In this part of the world, you had better remember to completely empty your engine block in November or you will have a very expensive repair next spring. I have seen many cracked blocks over the years. Those freeze plugs do pop out sometimes but the block will still crack.

Wayne