is it ok to not have 50/50 coolant & water mix?

LapTak · 12-31-2005, 01:58 AM

as title...

can you have like 65% coolant and 35% water? why and why not?

thanks alot.

***staticx313*** · 12-31-2005, 06:56 AM

If you're going to lean in any direction, its best to add more water (unless you are in an area where it gets VERY cold). Water will pull out heat much better and I know when we went from the standard 50/50 stuff to about a 30/70 coolant/water mix the coolant temps dropped pretty significantly. That and since its 60 degrees outside on new years eve (as bizzare as that is) lol, shouldn't have freezing problems or anything like that. Just make sure to keep the mix within freezing/boiling tolerances.

Robert~

seattle944t · 12-31-2005, 08:24 AM

You don't want to have too much glycol coolant in your system, you can actually overheat your car if you have too high a coolant ratio. The coolant is there to aid in freezing/boil over protection and additives for prevention of rust/scale build up, water pump lubrication, etc. It actually has horrible thermal transfer properties.
As said above, if anything you want to run a higher water percentage, pure water or water with additives like water wetter is actually a much better thermal transfer agent but its not very realistic to do that on a street car. For a street car the highest I have ever heard is a 70% water 30% coolant mix as that still has enough additives and freezing/boilover protection for areas that don't see extreme temps.

***staticx313*** · 12-31-2005, 08:26 AM

Also keep in mind that if you use redline water wetter or something similar, it will leave a brown film on everything... we thought we had headgasket problems for a while and totally forgot it did that lol

. So if you do use it and see a little brown in the reserve coolant tank or something, don't fear

Robert~

arsonall · 12-31-2005, 02:17 PM

water works best, but for protection, the glycol is added to street cars. just stick in the range of (minimum recommended) 15% to (at MOST) 50%. many race engines only use water, i believe.

12-31-2005, 01:58 AM	#1
LapTak Junior STI Driver Posts: 88 Join Date: Sep 2004 Trader Rating: (0)	is it ok to not have 50/50 coolant & water mix? as title... can you have like 65% coolant and 35% water? why and why not? thanks alot. This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad.

12-31-2005, 08:24 AM	#3
seattle944t Junior STI Driver Car: 05 Sti Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 90 Join Date: Oct 2005 Trader Rating: (0)	You don't want to have too much glycol coolant in your system, you can actually overheat your car if you have too high a coolant ratio. The coolant is there to aid in freezing/boil over protection and additives for prevention of rust/scale build up, water pump lubrication, etc. It actually has horrible thermal transfer properties. As said above, if anything you want to run a higher water percentage, pure water or water with additives like water wetter is actually a much better thermal transfer agent but its not very realistic to do that on a street car. For a street car the highest I have ever heard is a 70% water 30% coolant mix as that still has enough additives and freezing/boilover protection for areas that don't see extreme temps. Last edited by seattle944t : 01-01-2006 at 11:14 AM.

12-31-2005, 02:17 PM	#5
arsonall Junior STI Driver Car: 2004 WRX-black Fav Mod: COBB downpipe & Accessport Location: Lake Forest, CA Posts: 181 Join Date: Aug 2005 Trader Rating: (0)	water works best, but for protection, the glycol is added to street cars. just stick in the range of (minimum recommended) 15% to (at MOST) 50%. many race engines only use water, i believe. This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad.

12-31-2005, 06:56 AM	#2
*staticx313* Platinum Member Car: 05 Subaru WRX STI CG Fav Mod: 3" FP20G - 403WHP/417WTQ Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 5,279 Join Date: Aug 2003 Trader Rating: (2)	If you're going to lean in any direction, its best to add more water (unless you are in an area where it gets VERY cold). Water will pull out heat much better and I know when we went from the standard 50/50 stuff to about a 30/70 coolant/water mix the coolant temps dropped pretty significantly. That and since its 60 degrees outside on new years eve (as bizzare as that is) lol, shouldn't have freezing problems or anything like that. Just make sure to keep the mix within freezing/boiling tolerances. Robert~

12-31-2005, 08:26 AM	#4
*staticx313* Platinum Member Car: 05 Subaru WRX STI CG Fav Mod: 3" FP20G - 403WHP/417WTQ Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 5,279 Join Date: Aug 2003 Trader Rating: (2)	Also keep in mind that if you use redline water wetter or something similar, it will leave a brown film on everything... we thought we had headgasket problems for a while and totally forgot it did that lol . So if you do use it and see a little brown in the reserve coolant tank or something, don't fear Robert~