21stcenturygadgetguy
Active LVC Member
I looked under the hood today, and wow--where you put the antifreeze in, it is really dirty! What is the best antifreeze to use, and how to you properly clean/maintain this? Thanks all!
What is the best Antifreeze to use on a Mark VIII?
- Thread starter 21stcenturygadgetguy
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Frat-man-du
Dedicated LVC Member
I flush every 2 years - 50/50 mix Prestone and distilled water - never use tap water if you can help it (minerals ans such). You have to burp the system from the crossover tube at least once after the thermostat has warmed up and opened fully. I also replace the "O" ring and use anti-seize compound on the filler cap to make it easier to remove.
Note: On my show cars I add a pint of "Water Wetter" Pink. Parade duty sux!
Note: On my show cars I add a pint of "Water Wetter" Pink. Parade duty sux!
For daily driver duty a 50/50 mix is good. For more extreme temps on the cold side, you can go higher to 60/40, favoring the antifreeze additive.
But remember, water is your best or at least most efficient medium for cooling, and if you did not have a freezing problem and ran your car hard, something closer to 80% de-ionized distilled water,20% coolant and a bottle of Water Wetter would work even better for cooling. (The effects of Water Wetter are reportedly diminished by coolant/antifreeze). Since water and Water Wetter do not have the anti corrosion compounds in your antifreeze/coolant, it is not wise to run 100% straight water and Water Wetter unless you are racing and prepared to drain and refill the system with a water/coolant mixture with some frequency. And of course if the temps drop and your system freezes with water, the damage will be severe. Since draining, refilling and "burping" the system is a bother, this is typically a seasonal thing for a car that makes multiple performance visits to the track, or does some hard running in very high ambient temp summer locales.
For a hard racing motor, particularly something wrestling with heat gains associated with forced induction loads, and especially for high boost turbochargers which are "heat monsters", you can look into a more exotic, zero pressure, glycol based product, like Evans Waterless Coolant. Wierd stuff, but it works. Not for a ar used as a daily driver though. And probably not until other approaches to thermal management have been employed and there are still remaining issues with keeping the temps down. Those would typically include larger multicore aluminum radiators, fans, increased oil capacity (oil not only lubricates, but it it is part of the heat exchange process), synthetic oils better ableto handle heat, oil cooler, engine bay venting, increased oil filtration capability to remove more particulates (like down from the typical 30 microns to 1 micron or less with an Amsoil dual bypass unit-particulates attract and retain heat, thus increasing the overall temp of the oil they are suspended in...getting them out helps to reduce heat), thermal barrier and thermal dispersal coatings on key parts,etc etc.
But remember, water is your best or at least most efficient medium for cooling, and if you did not have a freezing problem and ran your car hard, something closer to 80% de-ionized distilled water,20% coolant and a bottle of Water Wetter would work even better for cooling. (The effects of Water Wetter are reportedly diminished by coolant/antifreeze). Since water and Water Wetter do not have the anti corrosion compounds in your antifreeze/coolant, it is not wise to run 100% straight water and Water Wetter unless you are racing and prepared to drain and refill the system with a water/coolant mixture with some frequency. And of course if the temps drop and your system freezes with water, the damage will be severe. Since draining, refilling and "burping" the system is a bother, this is typically a seasonal thing for a car that makes multiple performance visits to the track, or does some hard running in very high ambient temp summer locales.
For a hard racing motor, particularly something wrestling with heat gains associated with forced induction loads, and especially for high boost turbochargers which are "heat monsters", you can look into a more exotic, zero pressure, glycol based product, like Evans Waterless Coolant. Wierd stuff, but it works. Not for a ar used as a daily driver though. And probably not until other approaches to thermal management have been employed and there are still remaining issues with keeping the temps down. Those would typically include larger multicore aluminum radiators, fans, increased oil capacity (oil not only lubricates, but it it is part of the heat exchange process), synthetic oils better ableto handle heat, oil cooler, engine bay venting, increased oil filtration capability to remove more particulates (like down from the typical 30 microns to 1 micron or less with an Amsoil dual bypass unit-particulates attract and retain heat, thus increasing the overall temp of the oil they are suspended in...getting them out helps to reduce heat), thermal barrier and thermal dispersal coatings on key parts,etc etc.
http://www.evanscooling.com/catalog/C_npg1.htm
I run this stuff in my race car. Again, not recommending it for daily drivers, and I don't sell it or own stock in the company either. This is just for anybody that is curious about it. Given the remarkable temps that it can operate at without boiling, it is a given that you would be running syn oil lubricants as well, as your dino oils would be coking.
I also run an Amsoil dual filter/bypass BMK-13, with a pre-oiler, and the oil capacity in the car is 13 quarts of 0-30w racing oil, and a Setrab oil cooler. http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/bf.aspx
Just in case you like reading about this stuff, especially if you are considering a serious FI application in the future and will be focused on thermal management.
I run this stuff in my race car. Again, not recommending it for daily drivers, and I don't sell it or own stock in the company either. This is just for anybody that is curious about it. Given the remarkable temps that it can operate at without boiling, it is a given that you would be running syn oil lubricants as well, as your dino oils would be coking.
I also run an Amsoil dual filter/bypass BMK-13, with a pre-oiler, and the oil capacity in the car is 13 quarts of 0-30w racing oil, and a Setrab oil cooler. http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/bf.aspx
Just in case you like reading about this stuff, especially if you are considering a serious FI application in the future and will be focused on thermal management.
ONEBADMK8
Dedicated LVC Member
We sused to use Evans at Turbo Tune our old shop, we were one of their forst dealers back in the early 90's. Works awesome we did primarily Grand Nationals and I had a few and drove them daily with the stuff I have never had a problem running the stuff all the time.
Yes it is remarkable. I just did not wish to imply it was something folks should run out and get and stick in their systems. For the price it really makes no sense for DD on a street car. Sort of like using noble metals for wiring a lamp. ;-)