Anti-freeze

Tell me, please. Why is it not recommended we don't use anti-freeze in our older cars, like my 27 Commander. And no, I haven't. Just curious.

Commander Dave

Should read/ Why is it recommended we don't use anti freeze.

This one is a WOW statement . http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2009/02/01/hmn_feature5.html

Who makes this recommendation? Are they experienced in corrosion engineering? Do they know anything about corrosion and particularly galvanic corrosion? One should always examine the background of anyone recommending things like this.

It is uninformed nonsense to not use anti-corrosive additives in your radiator. Yes, you can use distilled (or de-aired) water, but how long will it remain oxygen free? Any bubbling will introduce oxygen, as will the free surface (interface with air) in the radiator. And who has a distilled or de-aired water maker?

Your steel will corrode in the engine. Everywhere. Aluminium will be worse. Anywhere you have disimilar metals touching or in close proximity, corrosion will be accelerated in one of them because of galvanic corrosion. Are the head and the block cast of the same steel? The pipe plugs on the waterway (e.g. block drain) are a different steel. Some engines have the ends of the head studs in the cooling water. What is your temperature sender? If it is brass, the housing around it will corrode. If your engine has wet sleeves, block corrosion will be accelerated. What about the radiator? You have brass tanks with steel water pipes attached. And the cooling tubes are something else again. And your water pump: bronze or brass bushes with the steel shaft running through? Any water around there will cause the shaft to corrode rapidly. And the impellor is cast, the shaft is case hardened. And then there is the housing.

Recent experience indicates it is a very bad idea to not have anti-corrosives in your cooling water. Corrosion will be rapid. It is not enough to drain the water either. Everything remains wet and re-oxygenated with the introduction of new air, so corrosion will continue pretty much the same.

And remember to change the cooling fluid every two years. The chemicals break down, losing their effectiveness. Indeed, some of them become corrosive. Just ask the internet about it.

I use anti-freeze and we very rarely go below 0 deg. C. I chose one for its anti-corrosive properties. The lowering of the freezing point is a bonus.

After the block is frozen and cracked corrosion will be a non-issue. You only have to forget once.