waterless coolant

To all who responded to my original post, thanks. Since there is far from unanimous support for this product, I think I will remain conservative and stay with conventional anti-freeze at least for now.

On a more general note, I cannot help but be impressed by the amount of knowledge contained in these forums. Gives an amateur like me a chance.

Bill Braun

I'm going to clarify a few points, apologies in advance if I'm off on tangents:

First of all, all antifreezes are glycols, either ethylene glycol or propylene glycol. The differences relate to dyes and additives rather than to the base composition. Glycols aren't all that easy to ignite at room temperature. You may well be able to extinguish a match in a bucket of Prestone, although I'm not suggesting you try.

The problem is that in a running car, your coolant gets hot, and that makes a big difference. The flashpoint of glycols is around 210-220f, well within their working temperature range. What this means is that a leak and a small energy source is all you need for a fire. This is an experiment that I HAVE tried, and I really don't suggest you try it at home. In an E-Type, coolant runs through three bulkhead bypass tubes, right through the passenger compartment. It's hardly rare to have a leaky bypass tube. That seems like a risk to me.

Why isn't this a problem with conventional antifreeze? Because it's mixed 50/50 with water. It would be like trying to ignite a wet log. It is possible for a 50/50 mix to dissociate and catch fire, but you'd probably have to mist it directly over a very hot exhaust manifold.

To William's point, the specific heat of glycol is much lower than water. This means that it's less efficient in transferring heat, and what that means is that the fluid would need to reach a higher temperature in order to transfer the same amount of heat. This is ok, as long as the fluid doesn't boil, and glycols have a much higher boiling point than water. But it does mean that 210F wouldn't be a surprisingly high working temperature for these coolants. And thus my concern.

On the positive side, glycols have significantly lower surface tension than water. What this means is that when water boils, it created big bubbles of water vapor...I'm sure you've seen boiling water on the stove top. Gasses are much less efficient than liquids in heat transfer. So if you have a very hot spot, say an exhaust valve seat, the coolant may boil and bubble at that point, and provide much less effective cooling. By contrast, the low surface tension of glycol means that it doesn't form big vapor pockets, so more fluid comes in contact with the hot part.

Glycols have lower vapor pressure than water at any given temperature. This is why you don't need a high pressure cap. But more importantly, it means that pure glycol is less prone to cavitation than water. XK engines tend to suffer from cavitation damage in the water pump and the thermostat bypass due to low pressures. So non-aqueous glycols can help with that.

So there's a little more information. Happy to be corrected, keep it coming.

Miklos, that was a very incomplete answer, what about boiling points and its efficiency to remove heat,. as far as I know clean water with an additive of soluble oil is very effective -and antifreeze if neccesary-. Most people tend to put in too much antifreeze and on a "weekend car" it will crystilise.

Checking the internet, what I found was mostly positive. I couldnÔÇÖt find ÔÇ£The badÔÇØ which Michael claims has been discussed time and time again. So I wrote the following to the manufacturer:

Could you please comment on the negative aspects to waterless engine coolant that were raised on the Jaguar Clubs of North America (JCNA) website. This is the link to the forum page:
http://www.jcna.com/forums/view.php?Vref=JCNA&Vfnum=130&Vthread=7981

Their response:

Miklos..................as with many naysayers out there, we always have some who are the first to put something down they don't understand.
Our coolant is NOT flammable!! any antifreeze on the market today will ignite if put in a misting situation. Example is corn dust in a silo....put an ignition source to it and it will ignite. Same goes for Prestone or Peak etc. and that includes us. But spill it on the ground and throw a lit match in it.........it just goes out. There is a big difference between being flammable and flammability.
Yes we do have a viscosity to our coolant about a 6-8 wt oil in similarity. We do not need to have a different pump or thermostat. Good example is my 2011 Dakota truck. Put our coolant in with only 30 miles on the odometer. Have not changed anything except the coolant. It does NOT run hotter in cold weather. As a matter of fact it runs the same temps all the time which is right about half way on the gauge, exactly where it ran with the 50/50 mix before I changed over.
No, it does not not crystallize in cold temps either. At temps below -40 it will get heavier in viscosity but starting the motor and allowing he motor to warm will get it thinned out.
We have many big car collectors using our coolant in their stored cars. Jay Leno, Don Garlits and many private collectors as well.
We have been around for over 20 years so this is not a snake oil promising fixes to any problems with a cooling system. We advise anyone to call us for there specific applications. We take pride in helping a customer to know exactly how our coolant works and what to expect when using it.
Thank you for your inquiry,

Evans Technical Support
888-990-COOL

Mike,

Before posting this question I reviewed the E Type and General Forums for the past couple of years. Unless I missed it, the subject has not been mentioned here. What is moot to you is new to me but I appreciate your listing the strenghts and shortcomings of the product. Getting some unbiased feedback was my original goal. So thanks.

Bill Braun

Edited on 2013-01-19 16:46:04

Getting attention where? It's been discussed time and time again, seems pretty moot at this point.

The good (as the vendor would tell you):
-Much higher boiling point
- Much lower operating pressures
- Never needs rust inhibitors
- Lower surface tension (more efficient cooling)
- Long, long change intervals

The bad (which the vendor probably will excuse or dissebmle):
- Much lower specific heat (higher running temperatures)
- Crystallizes at very low temperature (you can run hot in the wintertime)
- Highly flammable...actually operates above it's flashpoint in hot weather. Autoignition point is similar to alcohol fuels.
- Hard to pump at low temperature (may require special pump and thermostat)
- Very expensive, hard to find on the road.