Antifreeze Mix

[Jonesy07]

Steve Heath talks about setting the antifreeze/water mix to provide protection for -24ºC and quotes two different mixture percentages 25-30% and 40-50%.

What mixture will give me a good level of protection and any recommendations on which one to use?

Cheers

[Griffinr]

Buy your choice of antifreeze and follow the instructions on the label. They all quote the mix and the temperature range. The Steve Heath book will only be a rough guide unless it quotes a specific antifreeze.

Rob.

[Jonesy07]

Cheers Rob

[GreenV8S]

The anti-freeze protection is not particularly important. As long as you have *some* antifreeze in, it will 'freeze' into a slush rather than solid ice, so you're safe from busting the engine. What's far more important is that you have a strong enough solution, and replaced regularly enough, to prevent the insides of your engine from corroding. The corrosion inhibitor gets used up over time, and the stronger solutino you have the longer it can go before it needs replacing. On the other hand, anti-freeze doesn't conduct and hold heat as well as water, so the stronger your mixture is the lower the cooling performance will be. So don't go mad making your engine proof against arctic conditions when in reality we'll be lucky to see it dip more than a few degrees below zero.

[phillpot]

GreenV8S said:

in reality we'll be lucky to see it dip more than a few degrees below zero.

Oh yeah, try telling that to anyone who spent last winter working outdoors!