[Healeys] Coolant

[Steve Gerow]

I ran 50-50 coolant and purified water for years with no cooling system
corrosion.

 

Then I switched to purified water with water wetter. In a couple of years my
radiator clogged with rust flakes and the car started to run hot.

 

There are online forums showing how water wetter turns to brown goop after a
while; it evidently needs to be replaced every year or so. Supposedly the
person who designed it no longer works at Red Line. Royal Purple is a newer
formulation, but it's quite expensive, the Healey requiring two bottles. 

 

I called RP's tech support and the engineer told me "filtered" drinking
water is the best and even tap water is better than distilled water, which
he said encourages corrosion. The tech support guy said the minerals in the
water are beneficial in preventing corrosion. IIRC whatever it is that
causes the corrosion is attracted to these minerals rather than the engine
block. He advised me, since I live in a temperate area, to run 20% coolant
and monitor the pH.

 

So now I'm running tap water and 20% coolant.

 

FWIW

 

--

 

Steve Gerow

Altadena, CA, USA

BN6