user name

You can test the acidity of your coolant with a volt meter or with test strips. I can't remember the voltages that become a problem off the top of my head.

As for the real world problems it's going to be hard to find any when noone else is running 100% antifreeze. Living in a colder climate anitfreeze mixtures becomes more important. A 70/30 mix offers the best freeze protection without heaters. Growing up it wasn't uncommon to have -40 to -50 nights that gets into the range straight coolant starts to solidify(freeze). In that area we got that kind of weather infrequently enough that most people didn't run block heaters but it happened at least once a winter and I can remember a full week that didn't crack -30 as a daytime high(worst I can remember) and I don't understand how the farther north people can even survive months of that. I've seen a SBC block crack with what was claimed to be 100% antifreeze(it had all drained by the time I saw it) the guy though he was saving the truck that sat outside all winter by filling it that way. That was my first(and only) experience that 100% antifreeze sucks. I provided two credible sources that both state a proper mixture is the best method that's not to say 100% either way won't work in some situations with drawbacks to either one. Your method happens to cause less efficient heat transfer that's a pretty big draw back to some it also has less freeze protection than proper mixtures. I personally stick closer to the 60/40 mix because it occasionally gets cold enough I need that and once you get beyond 70% freeze levels go back up.(got that off an old coolant bottle graph years ago)

If your going for a less corrosive argument again where I live that doesn't matter as the radiators and steel lines all rust/corrode from the outside in not the inside out.

What benefits are you hoping to see with 100%.

sootnsmoke

Lots of truth to that, such as changing motor oil "every 3,000 or 3 months, whichever comes first". I am suprised how many people live by that religiously despite factory manuals stating every 5,000 mi, 7.500 mi etc
While this was put out there by the quick lubes it became a commonly accepted fact by millions. I think one would be very hard pressed to find ANYONE with first hand experience of failure from running 100% antifreeze. Just not gonna happen. It is probably run at %100 by a fraction of vehicles on the road by rare inquiring minds such as yourself If they did destroy something they would probably be too embarrased to discuss it freely or just blame something else. Just human nature.

Definately a lot of cooling system examples of damage due to running heavy mineralized tap water, never changing it out or not maintaining SCAs in motors requiring that like the 7.3's though.

jbawden

Geezus dude, will you let it go already...WE GET IT!!!, you like 100% antifreeze and few of us understand why, but we don't give a either, no one cares. I think very few people are doing what you do as stated earlier, so it's not likely you'll get find evidence of problems. Are you not getting enough attention on the other anti-freeze threads were you're phishing for an argument?

1_buck_truck

Maybe you should just try that way you have the exprience? then when someone has a question like this you can answer with PERSONAL experience ....

j_martin

I heard somewhere that if you stick a 6 inch knife into your belly button up to the hilt, it could cause serious harm.

It's just hearsay, though. Maybe you should try it to be sure.

Seriously, I have been injured by a high temp boil-off of glycol. It was a diluted solution that remained overheated till the water boiled off and the glycol burned.

I was injured 8 hours later when I vented the boiler involved. The gasses did me serious harm, both respiratory and nervous system.

Fairly involved, full suit hazmat abatement followed.

Pure antifreeze would do the same thing without having to boil off the water first.

The boiler, by the way, is still in service 8 years later. It wasn't hot enough to hurt the metal, just the electrical controls.

Totallyrad

OK guys, let's look at it this way. He's asked a question and set the parameters for those he wants to respond. I'll jump in and try to help a guy not make a mistake when working on his ride and I'll assume most of you are the same way but that doesn't seem to be what he's looking for. Let's let the folks who have actually tried it speak up. The answers might be interesting.

NJTman

Just because Mark is posting his challenge to those who are interested, doesn't mean that anyone who's tired of hearing the "100% glycol theme" has to bash him. There's another option here of just ignoring his thread, and showing him the respect he deserves. If we start bashing repeat questions, then this place will go downhill fast, and I really don't want to be a part of that, or to see it happen.

Although I have no intention of switching to pure glycol, I am interested in what his test strips have to say.

93flatbed

I want the real pictured multi meter reading. Heck I'll bring one of mine to do the test if he will let me step on his property.

John_P

This thread has already had two "edits" and warnings by our Admins.!

If you guys can't keep this thread civil I am going to lock it up!
Rick (Totallyrad) has given some great advice on how the replies should
go. Please follow what he has said.

Thank you!

maybe368

I do not get mad at other people's opinions, because they are just that, opinions. I can do you one better, the antifreeze in my fairlane was put in there in the late 90s. I am about 50 miles away from you just short of the I-10 tunnel. I would welcome a test. PM me if you are serious...Mark

Dieselbuilder

To get better heat pulled from the engine 100% antifreeze needs water for thermal transfer!!! even if its only 10%

maybe368

while I respect your opinion, there has not been one answer to my question...Mark

taterfarm

I didnt see this thread before and posted on the other one about having my radiator burst into the engine bay, based on that personal experience along with other observations and mishaps over the years I have some questions to ask and will keep them specific so that there are answers and we can make progress on this discussion to see where everyone is coming from.

1. will 100% antifreeze burn if it is above its flash point temperature (230*ish)and exposed to an ignition source or temperature high enough for auto ignition(750*ish)?

2. is antifreeze poisonous to inhale as a mist in the air?

3. is antifreeze a contaminant to the environment?

4. will distilled water cause corrosion in a cooling system?

5. What specific brand if any do you use as they all seem to have various ingredients?

6. How cold a temperature have you had prolonged exposure too(I am aware that you are now allowed to travel outside the sate of Arizona and don't care what location you where in just the temperature you have experienced a cold start it)

7. is your main reason for using 100% antifreeze because of the corrosive effects of water?

8. do you do your own maintenance or do other people have access to your vehicle?

I ask questions to learn and would like to know what your views are on these specific points. There is not a lot of personal experience with 100% so maybe it would be better to discuss what would happen if we had 100%antifreeze for experiences that we have when running the believed standard percentages.

These specific questions relate to me personally seeing coolant being sprayed into hot engine components, being in vehicles with broken heater cores that fog up the windows, knowing someones dog die from ingesting coolant from vehicles dripping into puddles, watching numerous vehicles drip coolant through leaks and spills, and seeing components fail and overheat with violent plumes of steam. In these events it seems as though 100% coolant would raise the risk of personal and environmental hazards. It also seems that running this component in a lesser concentration would reduce these hazards, reduce cost and increase performance(even if performance or cost isnt a concern).

It seems as though distilled water could be used without the risk of corrosion, and that it would be a great way to reduce the concentration and risk of the poisonous fluid. It also seems as though there may already be some type of water in so called full strength antifreeze as well, thats why I asked the brand. My bottle of travelers full strength has water on the list of ingredients.

I think these are all good background questions and that we can apply them to life situations to determine a list of pros and cons of what percentage of antifreeze we run.

maybe368

Because you seem sincere, I will answer your questions:

1. The definition of flash point is the temp at which a material will flash burn, but then go out. The fire point is the temp at which a material will continue to burn and is usually somewhat higher, I am recovering from 3 days of food poisoning and really don't feel like googling what it is.

2. I would say it is, but I don't know for sure, see above for reason.

3. I would say it is, see above. I would say that by me not changing it for yeas, it helps the environment because I use a lot less of it that regular changers.

4. I have no idea.

5. The cheapest I can find, usually wally world super tech.

6. I owned a cabin near Pagosa Springs Colorado for many years. It had a 6 foot freeze line. I have been a ski/snowboarder for years.

7. Yes

8. All of it on all my vehicles.

There is another good reason, what do most people do when they need to top off the overflow? They add water. What happens when you add water to a 50-50 mixture? It gets diluted. ...Mark

taterfarm

Didn't think of flame point and am trying to find that, its very difficult to find burn reports as most of the tests that are done are with some concentration of water ...I would assume this is done for two reasons, one that very few run 100% as it is not recommended by the oem or manufacturer and that it was done so to gain favorable results and prevent reports of coolant causing a fire. by any means there are accounts of mixed coolant burning, to do so the water has to be boiled off leaving the ethylene glycol, which i believe it may burn with a clear fire that is difficult to see. (yes I lit it on fire in the shop to find out how it would burn) I believe it only requires a small percentage of water to greatly reduce the fire property, which by itself is a good reason to avoid 100% and may be part of the reason that full strength antifreeze has water in the list of ingredients. With turbo temperatures in the 1200* range on normal conditions and the increased likely hood of a coolant overflow or failure to occur at extreme temperatures I believe that everything will be at the needed temperatures to cause a fire. in the wrong situation.

inhaled vapors is the second most dangerous risk of exposure aside from ingesting it. It would be very easy to inhale the vapors after an overheating or failure situation, or if your heater core had a leak and was misting the pressurized fluid into your cabin air supply( a common item in many older vehicles) It is unfortunate that you had food poisoning but now you experienced much of the symptoms inhaling antifreeze vapors as they include all the same symptoms of food poisoning but can last for several days rather than they typical 24 hr period of food poisoning. In an extreme exposure then there can me nerve damage and kidney failure, coma or death.

regular changers are using half the amount, each drop they loose is less of a contaminant that a drop of 100%. Dropping 100% antifreeze incrases the likelyhood of a hazard. My friends garage floor had a big dip in it that would allow a half inch of water to collect under the cars. They didnt thinking about it or realize that their dog drank out of it or that they had some antifreeze dripping off their vehicle. The dog had to be put down as his body was shutting down from poisoning. It would have taken half the amount of drops from 100% antifreeze to kill the dog.

Distilled water has very few minerals left in it, which are what is causing the corrosion and scale buildup. Regular water in a cooling system contains contaminants as the water is boiled away over time the contaminants remain and build up in the system. The process of obtaining distilled water is the same principle but captures the purer vapors that boil away and condenses them into distilled water. There shouldn't be much for corrosives in distilled water but if there was a trace amount the corrosion inhibitors in the antifreeze are there to address them. I believe mixing distilled water would give you the results you are looking for with a much safer liquid in your coolant system.

ahh crap they dont have a list of ingredients on that bottle guess I need to dig to find that.
at some low temperature then viscosity is going to be a problem, we need to find out what that temperature is to fully understand the performance of this method.

I believe the distilled water should also address the corrosive issues just as well.
If your doing your own work then I would think you would feel confident of what % is in there and that the proper ingredients were added. A properly skilled maintenance person should be able to mix the proper ratio and maintain that ratio without any concern of diluting the mix. I don't follow why you feel there is a question to what % is in there if you are the one that adds the coolant or tops it off, if there was a concern then why not test the protection levels or the ph to monitor where it is?

I dont know if us first gen people are most people or not? I will admit that i'm a little odd but then again so are most people so maybe we are. Anyways that why i do my own maintenance. these are just the people that should not be running 100% antifreeze as they are most likely not going to be aware of the potentially dangerous situations they could be in with exposure to the fumes.

My thought is that in a well maintained vehicle in normal operating conditions with no outside failure or accident that there probably wont be any issues with 100% antifreeze. But feel that as a recommendation to others simply as a solution to corrosion and buildup that you are taking a great risk, especially without knowing what the condition or history of their vehicle is or what their personal capabilities are. I believe that ethylene glycol is a harmful fluid and that it is negligent to recommend its use without fully understanding the possible risks in the event of a system failure.


There is most likely a reason that no OEM recommends the use of 100% antifreeze and that reason most likely has nothing to do with ideal conditions of a well trained operator with common sense and experience with equipment, It is most likely due to the potential risk that could occur in an unfortunate yet entirely possible situation where personal harm would occur.

In your 25+ years of experience with 100% antifreeze how many unfortunate situations have you been in that has caused the antifreeze to leave your cooling system? Coolant has a unique taste and smell and in most all situation that I have been in where there was a loss of coolant then I taste and smell the coolant in the air, so I know it was in my lungs.

sorry didn't mean to post this much...