Well, you can certainly run less than 50% antifreeze here in CA. It never
drops below freezing here at sea level. If you don't go up to Tahoe for
skiing (in a B?) it may be something you never need to worry about.
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
on 9/9/06 12:22 PM, Councill, David at dcouncill@msubillings.edu wrote:
> I normally run and recommend maintaining the standard 50/50 mix year
> round. I suppose you could run a lower, diluted mix in the summer but
> then you would be changing AF twice a year.
>
> I am actually doing coolant changing today in a couple of cars. This I
> do right before winter about once every two years or if I had ended up
> diluting the AF earlier in the year due to some maintenance (thermostat,
> water pump, etc).
>
> This week however I have been working on the coolant in my son's Chevy
> S10 pickup. Last year I noticed his coolant had turned orange and when I
> mentioned it to him, I found that he had replaced his antifreeze with
> straight water months earlier that spring/summer. The lack of antifreeze
> with its anti-corrosion agents led to serious rusting. So we flushed the
> system and replaced it with 50/50 AF. However, it once again turned
> muddy orange so I ran a coolant cleaner through it last weekend - one of
> those you add to water after flushing the system. It said to run it over
> several days, driving the car for several hours. I did all that and
> flushed the system, refilled it with 50/50 AF this morning. I'm not sure
> what makes a Chevy more prone to corrosion or why GM likes to use its
> own special antifreeze (Dex?) but this is a 1991 which was running the
> regular green stuff when we got it two years ago and still does. Maybe
> MGs are more tolerant of straight water but I wouldn't try it.
>
> Here shortly, I will replace the AF in my 74 Landcruiser. Always clean
> and green but it has been a few years since I replaced it. I suppose the
> stuff may last for more than a few years but the 50/50 mix is only good
> to 35 below zero and it can get close to that here in the winter, but
> usually not much colder than maybe 25 below.
>
> David Councill
> 67 BGT
> 72 B
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On
> Behalf Of Larry Daniels
> Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:44 AM
> To: oliver; MG List
> Subject: Re: overheating
>
> In addition to the typical good advice you received from Paul H., I
> would
> lower that quantity of anti-freeze to no more than 10 - 20% in the
> summer
> and then raise it back to the amount needed for your winters.
>
> Anti-freeze does not shed heat anywhere near as quickly as straight
> water.
> It will raise the boiling point of the mixture, but will also raise the
> temperature. If you like, you can try adding a little Water Wetter from
>
> Redline. I ran straight water in my race car years ago and saw a 15
> degree
> drop by adding Water Wetter. YMMV.
>
> Larry Daniels
>
> 79 MGB LE
> 72 Midget
> 60 Bugeye
> 67 Austin A60 Pickup
>
> "You only need two tools: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it
> doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it
> shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape."
|