Tom Sabo writes >
> Since this seems to be a fairly astute group of neo-chemists, :-)
> I would like to ask a question. A few years ago, I was talking
> with a fellow SCCA racer, and he said that he used water with a
> water wetter instead of antifreeze because water did a better job
> of removing heat from the cylinder head. Can anybody support or
> refute this claim about heat transfer with antifreeze? He felt
> that the engine ran hotter with antifreeze, but I don't recall
> how much hotter he felt that it ran.
> --toms.
This has been discussed extensively on the racing and autox lists. The
consensus as I recall it is:
Water has more heat transferring ability than water/antifreeze.
Water has a lower boiling point than water/antifreeze. but in most cases
the water cools better and the boiling point does not become a factor.
Water is not nearly as slippery and hard to remove from a racetrack than
water/antifreeze. Some motorcycle race organizations do not allow
antifreeze to be used on the track in water-cooled bikes. Ditto for some
car outfits, although I have never seen it hereabouts.
You should use some sort of water-pump lube if you don't run antifreeze.
Water wetter makes water cool better because bubbles are reduced in size.
Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans St, Saint Paul, MN 55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105 w (612) 266-6244 phile@stpaul.gov
"There is nothing like a complete money-is-no-object restoration.
And this is going to be nothing like one." - Phil Ethier
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