Quiz: Your engine is frozen ...

it is -10c and your engine is frozen. How much antifreeze do you have in the coolant?

a) 15%

b) 25%

c) 50%

d) 75%

e) 100%

I'm sure I'm going to regret this but......

Did it freeze at -10 or before it reached -10 ?

It froze at perzackly -10 (going down that is)

OK

My guess is b) or is it a) or it could be b) or a) or ........... b)

That's my final guess

the whole premise of this thread is flawed, because it depends on
a) what is the antifreeze.
b) what is the coolant.

for example if the coolant was this - then you would not use antifreeze, because the coolant is not water based!

Ok, get picky then. a) the antifreeze is ethylene glycol, and b) I presume you mean what the rest is. Water, in this case.

I was taught that the mixture is called 'coolant' and would get kicked up the ass for saying 'water cooled' when I should have said 'liquid cooled'.

It's like being in the Army and calling your rifle a 'gun'

tony.jackson said:

OK

My guess is b) or is it a) or it could be b) or a) or ........... b)

That's my final guess

Click to expand...

b) is Wrong

JimAttrill said:

Ok, get picky then. a) the antifreeze is ethylene glycol, and b) I presume you mean what the rest is. Water, in this case.

I was taught that the mixture is called 'coolant' and would get kicked up the ass for saying 'water cooled' when I should have said 'liquid cooled'.

Click to expand...

Jim, did you not understand my post.....?

The Mad Hat Man said:

the whole premise of this thread is flawed, because it depends on
a) what is the antifreeze.
b) what is the coolant.

for example if the coolant was this - then you would not use antifreeze, because the coolant is not water based!

Click to expand...

The coolant does not have to be a mixture of two liquids or even one containing water. If you followed the link, you would have seen phrases such as....
"NPG-R, its newest addition to their innovative line of waterless Engine Coolants."
and "NPG-R does not freeze or boil-over."
and "As with NPG+ and NPG, NPG-R is a stand-alone coolant. Therefore, NPG-R requires all the existing antifreeze and water to be removed from the radiator, engine block and heater core."

therefore your previous comment about "it should be liquid cooled and not water cooled" was correct.

My comments stand - without knowing the coolant and anti-freeze mediums, your original question was meaningless - any answer (from 0% to 100%) would be correct depending on the two variables just mentioned

After doing some more research I think I should rephrase the question to
'It is -13c ....' (not -10c)

That Evans so-called NPG is a mixture of propylene glycol and ethylene glycol. Their web site doesn't want to mention ethylene glycol, possibly because it is poisonous. General Motors are facing a class action suit about the use of propylene glycol in their engines (aka OAT, the pink stuff used in modern Land Rovers) because it turns to sludge and stuffs up the engines instead of lasting 120k miles as advertised.

Try this link for interesting reading ....

Don't Fill Her Up with Antifreeze, Alaska Science Forum

just to add even more confusion - this pic seems to suggest a 45% solution is required for a -15C protection.....

It never freezes on the South Cornwall coast, so who cares?

see global warming fred

I have a little syringe thing with 4 coloured balls in it that I use to measure the strength of coolant. Various makes contain different percentages of EG and some (the cheaper ones) are 50% before dilution. It is also impossible to go on the colour, rather like whisky where J&B is a lighter colour but the same strength as other whiskys. It hardly ever freezes here, but I reckon 40% is good for corrosion protection.

That rather confusing chart is, I suppose, in Fahrenheit? As it mentions quarts it must come from the US and they use F. I must say I prefer Centigrade for low temperatures.

jim yu may be right - i wasnt having a go - just saying that your original Q didnt give enuf info - it was a bit like saying "a=5, l=96, what is r and t"

Did you click on that URL (cos the answer is there ) ?

i was taught many yrs ago, to never ever go above a 50% mixture.
seems about right too.

Me too, in fact I always go for 40% because that was what the RAF used in Merlin engines. They reckoned that heat transfer was better with pure water, so there had to be a compromise between improved boiling point (they weren't too bothered about the freezing aspect) and heat transfer ability.

But nobody has ever said WHY 100% mixture is a BAD thing.

how does one get a 100% mixture????

i suppose it wudnt be a 100% mixture, just 100% antifreeze.........

i spose it wud also depend on your interpretation of mixture, as distinct from compound. Water itself is a mixture of various components.