...Some dumb questions....


Ive been flushing my coolant system with distilled water throughout the week.

Now Im back in stephenville and it supposed to get down to 36* tonight and 29* tomorow night. Should I be worried about the water in the block freezing?

Also, if I plug it in to offset the cold, will I have to worry about turning my motor into some kind of steam kettle?

Dumb questions I know.

Im not from the cold regions...

 

I don't think 29 degrees for a few hours one night is going to bust stuff but why take the chance. If you plug it in you will be fine. I would not make a habit of it.

 

Yeah. I want to run Amsoil coolant but just havent gotten around to ordering it.

 

I had a 326 Pontaic engine that cracked all the way down one side of the block at that temp.

Plug the block heater in.

 

Plug it in.

 

I would just dump some anti-freeze in there and not take any chances.

I forgot to remove the hose from my outside freeze-proof water-spigot; it got down to only 30* that night; next morning when I turned the water on, the cast housing was split down both sides.

Water WILL FREEZE at 32* and will not freeze any harder at -50*.


If you believe my old high-school chemistry teacher, once it starts boiling, water can get no hotter than 212* (or whatever?), and once it freezes, it can get no colder than 32*, regardless of outside temperatures.

I never tested this theory as he seemed like a mostly honest man who could be taken at his word on subjects of little financial importance.

 

that only applies to water at sea level. water under a vacume will freeze higher than 32*, and water under pressure will not boil till over 212*.

I say that because normaly when the engine is warm the coolant expands and runs over into the overflow. As it cools the cooling system creates a vacume and draws the coolant back into the radiator. As temps drop even more of a vacume is created in the cooling system, which in turn raises the freeze point of plain water by a degree oe two.

That being said just plug it in before bed, all the water wont boil out over night. I ran my 89' cummins most of the winter in Maine with only water in it, I just kept it plugged in anytime I wasnt driving it. There was a couple times I drove to Augusta (45 minutes each way) while it was in the upper 20*'s and the radiator turned to slush. It never froze solid or over heated but I wasnt far off.

 

Are you sure it wasn't because you turned it 12 grand the night before.

It is possible to bust stuff at anything below 32. I have had many boats that were raw water cooled and got away with it. But for the cost of these engines, Its not worth takin the chance. My luck my boy would drive his bike over the cord and unplug it.

 

Ok. I plugged it in last night. Not that it got to be freezing but I did it anyway. I guess today Ill drain some of the water and put a bit of leftover antifreeze in now and baby it till the new amsoil stuff comes in.

thanks

 

What is so special about the Amosoil stuff ??

 

Read up on it HERE

Some will say its a waste of money but I have had plenty of satisfaction from their other products and, I hope the admins don't get upset by this remark cause I am by no means advertising, but I cant see myself selling a product if I wont even use that product myself on my own vehicle.

We all have our reasons.

 

It was on jack stands at the time getting a new clutch. I went out that morning and started to install the clutch and had water dripping on me.

Pontaic's in stock form were only good for about 5500 RPM if you were lucky.

 

I am by no means even close to an expert, nor am I a scientist (although I have performed several more or less successful experiments), but it seems that I read somewhere in this very forum that propylene glycol was a no-no in our engines ??

I also may have read some mis-information.


I like the old-timey poison yellow stuff.

 

My 1992 Cummins engine shop manual says "do not use distilled water in cooling system" something about the ph being too low and causing corrosion.

 

Does this mean by itself, or mixed 50/50 ??


I have been using 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and distilled water.


Around here, if you use well- or spring-water, the minerals will soon overtake everything.