1950s what antifreeze do you run

[TJ Hopland]

Is the evans type of solution (another pun?) one of those that really only works on a freshly rebuilt system?   If you have any existing chemical stuff going or some of the old stuff that can't be effectively flushed out 100% everywhere then changing could make things worse?

[dn010]

Many premix coolants use either deionized or distilled water. Prestone actually says "use only distilled water" on their concentrate bottle. The rislone website where they scare the pants off anyone reading it before pushing you to buy their own coolant has been debunked as false IF written as distilled water is mixed with coolant, but it isn't even written describing distilled water mixed with coolant - it is written as if you were to fill your system with distilled water only which would certainly cause problems. The American Dream auto website also tries to claim the same thing about distilled water, and then wants you to buy their extended auto warranty... Because of those websites, they're linked to just about every forum out there and the misinformation is then spread like wildfire and we end up where we are here, looking at other solutions that costs more money. I didn't see anywhere that prestone has any lawsuits after selling millions of gallons of premix using distilled water so for me it is a safe bet.

In other words, you're fine to use coolant mixed with distilled water. If you want to spend $$$ on other fluids, have at it. Either way, your cooling system is going to outlast you.

[TJ Hopland]

I'm still waiting to hear where the average person gets deionized water and how much it costs.   

[dn010]

You can get it through walmart or amazon, ~$15/gal.

[Gene Beaird]

Is the evans type of solution (another pun?) one of those that really only works on a freshly rebuilt system?   If you have any existing chemical stuff going or some of the old stuff that can't be effectively flushed out 100% everywhere then changing could make things worse?

Not certain if it has to be 100% clean of all pre-existing water-based coolant, or not, but from what I'm reading on the Evans web site is that it's recommended to have the water-based coolant level to less than 3% of the total coolant solution in order to 'take advantage of the features of waterless coolant'.  That is determined via a spectrometer or test strips. 

Evans has a 'Coolant Prep' solution to use in those vehicles you are wanting to move away from water-based coolant in to more-thoroughly remove residual water from the system.  So yeah, for a car already running with water-based coolant, the conversion won't be cheap, but if you can get away from the issues with using water, maybe worth it? 

[TJ Hopland]

I wonder if the prep stuff contains a special mix of chemicals to try and neutralize the typical stuffs that would be found in an existing system?  If that was the case you would expect that maybe there would be different flavors tailored for different system materials and former coolants?

The one formula fits all approach may be one of the issues people run into since there is now over 100 years worth of equipment to try and keep cool. 

Another factor people don't seem to talk about is is any of 'it' really a problem if you just change it often?   

[Cadman-iac]

  I prefer to run the green coolant in all of my vehicles. I didn't like what Dexcool did to vehicles if they got air in the system, so I drained, flushed, and refilled with green stuff.

 I've never understood the attraction to the premixed coolant. I can't bring myself to pay more for someone to add water to half the amount of coolant.

 I used distilled water for years without issue, but recently read that you shouldn't use it. So this year when I serviced the fleet I switched back to tap water.
 I went over 7 years on the green coolant with distilled water and it still tested good. But I may have just been lucky. I'm going to replace it every 3 years from now on. That should prevent any problems.

 Rick

[Gene Beaird]

I wonder if the prep stuff contains a special mix of chemicals to try and neutralize the typical stuffs that would be found in an existing system?  If that was the case you would expect that maybe there would be different flavors tailored for different system materials and former coolants?

The one formula fits all approach may be one of the issues people run into since there is now over 100 years worth of equipment to try and keep cool. 

Another factor people don't seem to talk about is is any of 'it' really a problem if you just change it often?   

It looks like the flush stuff is strictly a hygroscopic fluid that sucks as much water out of the system as possible before going water-free.  It didn't seem to have any other purpose. 

[LaSalle5019]

Has anyone used Evan's waterless coolant?  My curiosity has been peeked that it's a no water solution (see what I did there?    ).  It's not cheap, but if you don't have to mess with water, and it provides an extended change cycle, might be worth it. 

We have a 1986 SVO in our 'collection', and it has several different metals in touch with water in the cooling/heating system, iron, steel, aluminum, brass and stainless.  That, and some parts are now NLA, I'm seriously-considering putting it in the car to help reduce corrosion. 

If it did well there, I'd consider putting it in some of our other garage queens, and especially our Cadillacs. 

Just curious if anyone here has used it. 

Here is my problem with Evans. It has really poor heat transfer characteristics and higher viscosity compared to water. Given it's 65% of water heat transfer rate, plus the added viscosity it is around 40% less effective at transferring heat from the internals of your engine to the air coming through your radiator. Add to that it's boiling point of 375 degrees F and your engine could be running well over its design limits without you ever noticing. Your engine cylinder walls WILL always run hotter using Evans - it just can't move the heat nearly as efficiently. It might be okay for a cooling system that has a lot of extra cooling capacity but no thanks on the Evans for my cars,

[TJ Hopland]

If it was designed for semis haven't those always had fairly large volumes of engine oil and oil coolers?  So you were gaining some more cooling there?   Most of the cars we are talking about on this site don't have coolers or especially large capacities.

[gkhashem]

Dexcool started what in the early 90's?  That's also the time frame when plastic aluminum radiators started and I think both were standard by the mid 90's so makes sense that lead wasn't a concern. 

The deionized water people have not yet said where the average person would get the stuff.

Is anyone saying that there is a downside to buying the premix stuff other than possibly cost?

Dexcool started midway through the 1995 model years for most GM cars.