VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc Better Coolant

Summer is coming and wanting to find a better coolant that will help keep water temps down while in traffic. Last summer while driving in lets say normal-average traffic the '48 would get rather hot like over 200* when sitting at a light for too long and at slow speeds. Once up to speed temps do go down so I know the water pump and radiator are working. My concern is for those hot summer days at a cruise in or show sitting idling for a while. That little four blade fan, no shroud, and brick wall grille don't do any favors getting air in.

Currently, the cooling system has the green ethylene glycol in it. For the summer, thoughts on draining the antifreeze and filling up with distilled water and a bottle of WaterWetter? I use this combo in two of my other cars with pretty radical engines and it does keep the temps more stable.

https://www.redlineoil.com/waterwetter

Thanks

Hi Bruce,

When was the last time the engine was rebuilt if ever? The water jacket might be filled with 72 years of accumulated rust? Here is an old post found by doing a SEARCH of past posts +engine +overheating and DISPLAY NAME Mike Buller.

Overheating Issue I am Stuck

Good luck, Mike

It's been several years but still low miles. It doesn't over heat while idling in spring, fall or winter weather. Just those hot summer days.

LFSADRG, although it was suggested above to do a search of these forums, that is one of the benefits of being a VCCA member - nonmembers cannot use the search function. There are MANY great benefits to joining the club, like getting an award winning monthly magazine and access to technical articles and tech advisors, to name a few.

That being said, Waterwetter has been discussed before and here is a good post to check out: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/277472/re-water-wetter.html#Post277472

Cheers, Dean

Hello Bruce; If your '48 is overheating it is not the water and the coolant. My ,47 can idle outside in the yard or sit on a downtown street on July 23 in the southern state of N.C for ever and my after market and the factory gauge will not show over 195-215 degree F whitch is great. I own and drive 3(THREE) T MODEL Fords --NO! -NO-water pumps and they boil over at times so if your '48 over heats check your hoses(for collapsed) crud in the rad(if so back flush).Take the radator off turn it upside down and put the garden hose in the outllite and see what comes out of the rad,cap opening ,look for any junk this might help.Do not rely on your rad. shop flow test caues they don not know OLD Rad spec.
Just my .002 Cs
I have only did this --I can't count
GOOD LUCK
Davjd--POPS__

Dean,

Here's an article on that subject: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/glycol-or-water-coolant/

This is the conclusion, but the whole brief text is an interesting read:

"Assuming a fixed amount of circulating fluid and radiator capacity, running 100 percent water would be the most efficient coolant in terms of its ability to conduct heat with minimal temperature rise. In other words, of all common liquids, water requires the most heat energy to change its temperature."

I run my '36 PU a couple of times a month and use straight water as a "coolant" and have been since 1965. I drain the water after each run so it has no time to leave any deposits or do any damage.

If Bruce tries plain old water he'll be pleasantly surprised at the cool running and bang for the buck it delivers, despite what the "experts" on some forums say.

What coolant do you run in Justin and Lurch?

Ray W

Thanks for information. I did a simple search for coolant posts but did not try for waterwetter. Again, this is just for the summer months, only have two in Seattle..sometimes if even. Today I put some miles on the car trying to locate a #55 mini bulb for the dash going to a couple of auto parts stores. It was a sunny 70* out and the H20 temps stayed at 180 while in slight traffic. Once idling at a long traffic light the temp gauge did creep up but as soon as I was moving it went back to 180*. After going in and coming out of the auto parts place the temp did rise to the red mark while sitting. The car was hard to start so must of heat soaked since it was my third stop of the day.

End of May I will do straight distilled water with a rust inhibitor. Will see how it goes from June - August. Afterwards back to green coolant in Sept.

Ray,

Lurch and Justin run 50/50 water and ethylene glycol mixture year round. I'm happy with Justin staying cool, even when we were at the 55th Anniversary meet in South Lake Tahoe (August, 90+ degree heat, and high altitude driving - up to 8000 feet).

Lurch, on the other hand, runs a little hotter than I'd like. I suspect the original honeycomb radiator is the culprit. I know that there is no crud in the water passages because when I rebuilt the engine 2 years ago, the freeze plugs were removed, the machine shop got a lot of stuff out of there, and I got even more out at home with the head off and poking, vacuuming, and flushing out those cavities. I have a diamond shaped radiator that I'm going to try in a few weeks and I'll see if Lurch's temperature situation improves.

Bruce, after you run the straight distilled water with a rust inhibitor for a while, please post your results.

Thanks, Dean

My strong suspicion is that this is a problem with accumulation of crud throughout the cooling system. That accumulation is more a function of time than miles. It is worse when the coolant is not changed regularly and the system is not flushed. Remember that when that car was new people often did not run antifreeze year round due to cost.

I agree that plain water will transfer heat better than an antifreeze-water mixture.

Water-wetter might help but i doubt if it will compensate for a layer of rust on the cooling passages in the head and block.

A bigger radiator and larger fan will only go so far to help. The heat needs to transfer from the block into the coolant.

I have been an active member of VCCA Chat about 12 years. I cannot begin to remember the number of posts about marginal cooling situations like yours. We don't hear the results from many of them. For those we do the solutions were fairly aggressive actions such as removing and tank cleaning the radiator, pulling the head to clean it,and cleaning block passages when the head was removed.

Even if the water passages are as clean as possible,having the temperature sensing bulb at the back of the cylinder head(the hottest part of any engine,regardless of make)right over the top of No.6 exhaust port is naturally going to show a hotter temperature,as the water gets heated by the exhaust port passing hot exhaust gasses.Food for thought?

The below stuff is nothing more than another iteration of what I have said several times before. For those of you who know more about this stuff than I do, then just skip it. For those who are worry warts about the engine's temperature then you might want to at least give the broad brush. Whatever. You've been warned so read on at your own risk of wasting time.


I have posted several times that the engine is made up of metals not organs and bones. (Your skin is your largest organ btw.) Think of your skin and the efforts we go to to control our environment. Your engine is designed to run with not much concern for the environment but at a sufficient temperature to ensure adequate oil flow and combustion. It doesn't spend much time thinking about it like we do.

Anyhow the old 216 is not subject to the chill factor as you and I are. If the car's temperature rises above the boiling point for your location then be aware that you may lose some coolant now and then. Everyone of you who claimed you once worked at a filling station knows what that thing with a curved spout on it was for. Topping off the radiator wad done even if half the top tank would be lost going out the overflow pipe. Hardly anybody back in the day bought a reservoir.

I digress. Unless the coolant gets below pump circulation then the engine is not going to suffer. Remember: metal not flesh and bones. Below circulation level then there is no heat exchange through the radiator's flues and fins. If the engine is running then the head will soon get hot enough to warrant a period of "cool down" before adding any coolant. If in a hurry, then crank the engine after has cooled as long as you can wait then and pour fresh coolant in the radiator so that it travels down through the radiator before entering the engine proper.

Most damage brought on by overheating is when the problem, if any, is ignored and then adding relatively cold coolant during the time the engine is hot enough to crack a head or block. Usually head right at the spark plug hole. Then the head is a boat anchor. Well pretty much anyhow.

Proper back flushing is done with high pressure from an air compressor back through the block via the petcock with the hoses off and thermostat out.steady water running into the engines via the thermostat housing/outlet. It should continue until water runs clear.

For the radiator find a radiator shop or borrow a Kalamazoo back-flush gun (both air pressure and a water hose is forced up through the radiator outlet and out the top tank's inlet neck or filler hole or both. Might consider rigging something to divert the forced water down without spraying it all over the engine compartment and yourself too.

In almost all cases a temporary rise in temperature is normal when sitting at a stop light. If you hear bubbling then stop before you go too far and let it cool down some. It will help you cope but not the engine. It doesn't care as long as there is at least there is some water circulating. Actually it likes it a bit hot. Better for all concerned. As if the engine has feelings. Think Tiny's Sweetie."

Unless you realize what the engine is actually sensing then a rising temperature needle is cause for undue concern. The engines temperature is not as big a concern as we make it seem. Don't sweat the small stuff before its time.

An engine running at a temperature way below 180 is not good. Conversely one running at 180 and then temporally running at the red line on the gage when in stop light traffic is usually nothing to worry about. Remember too that the thermostat merely helps the engine reach a temperature dictated by the thermostat's specified opening. It does nothing much in the way of regulating the engines temperature unless it's opening temperature is above the engines normal operating temperature.

Most times you all ofter over think this stuff. Temperatures, water, antifreeze, wet water and any and all sorts of engine coolants. The car's designed engine cooling system will operate with any of them as long as none freeze up.

Best,

Charlie

BTW: Sorry this was so stinkin long. I can only hope you got something of value out of it.

That gives me reassurance, thanks! This car is old and I dont want to blow a head gasket or overheat on the road. Plus I am new to vintage cars. Will relax and keep tabs on the temp gauge.

Keeping tabs on the temp gauge is always a good idea, if the anti freeze is more than 2 or 3 years old flushing a replacing will not hurt. Even the best long life has a 5 year recommended life span.
Tony

WATER IS A BETTER COOLANT THAN ANTIFREEZE AND PUT IN A ANTIRUST ADDITIVE.I CONSTRUCTED A FAN SHROUD FOR ONE OF MY CARS IT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET GOOD AIRFLOW THROUGH THE RADIATOR,NEVER HAD A CHEV.6 THAT RAN HOT.

Hi stude,

Are you angry at us as you used capitals in your post which means you are shouting. Perhaps you just didn't notice you were on capitals?