?? -Winter - STORAGE - Antifreeze - Draining ??

[Guest John W. Cina]

Just wondering of others thoughts ???

On my older cars 1920 - 30's.

I usually just RUN DISTILLED WATER during the driving season.

But for winter storage: "I DRAIN out the WATER - REFILL with ANTIFREEZE - RUN to WARM UP / CIRCULATE - than DRAIN and LET SIT empty till the next spring" .

Main Reason to save the cost of anifreeze - ( A FOUR GALLON 50/50 MIXTURE CAN THAN SERVICE SEVERAL CARS ) , and than I prefer to use water during driving season because they do boil water sometimes - so why use antifreeze during driving season.

Any comments desired .

John in Minnesota where its getting cooler.

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[Ron Green]

Antifreeze will prevent your cooling system (and engine) from rusting away unless you use rust inhibitors. Unless you completely seal off everything after you drain the system (which may be impossible) I would bet there is air still in it, thus the rusting process.

For me, as cheap as antifreeze or a rust inhibitor is as compared to the cost to fix the damage that could occur is cheap insurance, in my opinion. Especially if you own something fairly rare or valuable.

How much is antifreeze in Minnesota? It is cheaper (and you get more) to buy antifreeze at full strength and mix your own 50 / 50 mix then buying it pre-mixed.

[Clipper47]

I leave a mixture of about 60% antifreeze and 40% water in the car during the winter since it occasionally does get down below -40 on rare occasions even with global warming. I live about 180 miles north of Duluth. I would be concerned about rust developing in the head and engine block if there was nothing in the system.

[Guest John W. Cina]

Yes my thoughts were is it bad to leave it sit with nothing- and -exposed to air - even if its closed up and maybe some residue still even clinging to surfaces - but than I wondered if that would cause more RUSTING to occur.

Probably is better than to just do a total fill of at least a 50/50 mix for here (MN) -- and than if nothing else I'll just in the Spring - drain that out - and save and use it again next winter -

BUT probably its the exposure of metal surfaces to the AIR -- MORE SO THAN -- the water that causes the rusting.

John

[Clipper47]

BUT probably its the exposure of metal surfaces to the AIR -- MORE SO THAN -- the water that causes the rusting.

That would be my guess also.

[R Walling]

"I prefer to use water during driving season because they do boil water sometimes - so why use antifreeze during driving season."

You will find that it will boil less, is you use antifreez in the summer.

[Mark Shaw]

This is from the BrassBuicks forum:

Re: [bB] Antifreeze ?

There are some down sides to using antifreeze in a non pressured system. The

main issue is that the motor will run hotter with antifreeze. By chemical

make up it is both a coolant and a heat retainer. The coolant today is

designed to run with 10 plus pounds of cooling system pressure. It does not

do its job as designed with out a pressurized system. Now we all know that

our systems have no pressure. The only advantage of using antifreeze in a

non pressurized system is not freezing in the winter.

If you are looking for a product that will stop the corrosion and rust build

up try water soluble oil used in machine shops. This will coat the inside

water passages of you cast iron motor and also as a secondary act will

lubricate your water pump bearings and packing. I have used this in my

antiques for many years and have never had any adverse problems. If you do

drain the motor for the winter, with this product your water passages are

coated and rust will not build up and clog the water passages.

There is another product that is used in Diesels, that is Nacol, it is a

cooling system additive that will also cut down on the rust and corrosion of

a motor. It is designed to work with both aluminum and cast iron.

A common mistake while using antifreeze is that if a little is good than a

lot is better. Full strength antifreeze has a much higher freezing point

than when properly mixed. Again keep in mind that with antifreeze/coolant

your cars motor will retain the heat and run hotter. I would never advise

using todays antifreeze in a non pressurized system.

Howard Musolf.

[Guest De Soto Frank]

John,

I would offer the following thought: if you are continuing to run plain water during the summer, and the vehicle will experience freezing temps during winter storage, I would strongly suggest draining the water at the end of your driving season, then refilling with the 50-50 Ethylene-Glycol.

If you don't want to let it sit all winter with the 50-50, you could drain that after running long enough to get the engine thoroughly warm... that way, any residual coolant left in the bottoms of the jackets will be freeze-protected ( cheap insurance against a pint or two of water freezing-up and cracking something?).

Good luck !

[Guest John W. Cina]

Well De Soto Frank that has been what I have done in the past - but I have had thoughts-questions like Mark Shaw made reference to above.

I guess this subject like many has more than one answer - but they all probably have logic to them.

Well this is the time to put them into winter hibernation .

One other comment -- one year I also forgot to winterize my pressure washer --- cost me a new pump...

John