Here's another tip for cooling systems. This may not be the "right"
thing to do, some of you old timers might dis-agree ;), but here's what
I do.
I live in Phoenix, AZ, and I have a '73 GT6 Mk3 that is a daily driver.
We often endure 110 degree days together. In this heat, it's easy to
imagine that the car frequently overheats - and it did, until I started
mixing coolant with water. It took me a couple flushes to get the right
ratio, but it's basically 50/50% mix of coolant and water.
Adding water to the coolant makes the coolant thinner, which enables the
mixture to flow easier through the cooling system, which produces less
stress on the engine.
The only problem that I can imagine with this is that if there is a
*small* leak in the cooling system, then it will be noticed, because the
water might leak because it is thinner than coolant. But there
shouldn't be a leak in your cooling system anyway. If anyone else has
any feedback on this procedure, I'd appreciate it.
- dt
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-british-cars@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-british-cars@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Randall Young
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:10 AM
To: Triumphs; british
Subject: RE: cooling systems
Barney Gaylord wrote :
> I have been using a 50/50 mix of ethelyne-glycol (standard "permanemt"
> antifreeze) and water in all of my cars for decades, many hundreds of
> thousands of miles, with no other additives of any kind, and a flush
and
> change of fresh coolant every 3 to 5 years. I too have "never seen
any
> rust or scale in any radiator on any car I own", and am very
> happy with the results.
Likewise not trying to start a flame-fest, but my experience has been
that 5
years is not often enough in my 59 TR3A. TR3s have a particular weak
spot
in the soft aluminum thermostat housing bolted to the cast iron head.
Running antifreeze for 5 years allowed a noticeable amount of galvanic
corrosion around the inside edge of my Tstat housing. Every 2 years
seems
to be working OK. Of course, this may also depend on the brand of
antifreeze used, since it's not the glycol itself that provides
corrosion
protection but the additives in it. I've been using either Prestone or
Zerex, whichever is on sale.
I haven't tried FT's No-Rosion yet, but I intend to. I expect it to
actually save me a little money over changing glycol every 2 years, but
money isn't my main concern here. It's getting tough to find TR3 Tstat
housings in good condition (and although the TR4 housing will
interchange,
the difference is visible).
Another $.02 worth ...
Randall
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