Coolant

[MMiskoe]

We did the VIR 13 hour race this year but at the end of the race the car needed to have anitfreeze in it so when it got home it could sit safey in the trailer (there was 14" of snow on the ground at my house that day). So here it is at 11pm after the race is over and we're swapping coolant in the paddock. Two guys walked past and one asked the other "Why are those guys prepping the car now? The race is over." We just chuckled and thought "oh these southern boys".

[BruceG]

We did the VIR 13 hour race this year but at the end of the race the car needed to have anitfreeze in it so when it got home it could sit safey in the trailer (there was 14" of snow on the ground at my house that day). So here it is at 11pm after the race is over and we're swapping coolant in the paddock. Two guys walked past and one asked the other "Why are those guys prepping the car now? The race is over." We just chuckled and thought "oh these southern boys".

Had a beautiful RX7(12A) shipped from the San Fran area to Vermont in Dec a few years ago with a layover in Chicago due to a blizzard. Car had only water and water wetter in it!! Cracked a rotor housing. Living in Vermont where we have to have antifreeze good to -50F, I never thought about the west coast, north of LA> Not good....LOL

[jimbbski]

I race with MCSCC and since we run most of our races at BFR and they don't like AF we banned it some years ago. It's only a problem at the first or last race of the year (April, Oct.) if it gets cold. I usually drain the cooling system at the end of the season and add a mix of AF & water that's good down to zero deg. It never get that cold in my attached garage so I don't worry about block damage. Since the water & Water Wetter mixture I had in the engine was very fresh I saved it and will reuse it in the spring. What can I say, I'm cheap. LOL

[Gary L]

I will pass along some coolant experience that might benefit a few of you out there, but the majority can ignore.

I was on a well for household water supply while living in the OKC area and the water was really good, but admittedly slightly (and I mean slightly) acidic. No problems with humans or household plumbing, but using Water Wetter with that water was a big NO-NO. The mixture would stain the hell out of both the aluminum timing cover and iron block if you had seepage from the water pump or some other leak. It would leave behind a brown residue that simply wiped off when dry, but when the residue left, it typically took any paint with it.

I never had a problem when running plain water from the same source, only when I added Water Wetter. There's probably a simple chemical explanation for all this, but I never asked the manufacturer about it... I simply started using different water for the race car.

[Z3_GoCar]

I only use distilled water in all my cars. The street one's I do use the normal 50/50 antifreeze mix, and BMW coolant in the street BMW's. For the race car, I'll add a tiny amount of water wetter. I looked at the Royal Purple version (Purple Ice) and it says not to use with pure water only with antifreeze mix. So, I stuck with Water Wetter. Tap water has disolved minerals, commonly iron, calcium, and around here arsenic, which leave resudues.

[DavidM]

I failed to mention that as well. I only used distilled water, whether it's with antifreeeze or without. That's for the race car as well as street cars. I buy the concentrated antifreeze and make my own 50/50 mix. Cheaper that way.

David

[JS154]

I run plain water with water wetter, and just a little splash of antifreeze - a pint, max - the only reason is so if it leaks you can smell it, but it's not any slicker than plain water if it comes out on the track.

Antifreeze is slicker than snot on the track, I've seen more than a few cars spin in their own coolant where if it were just water it would have ben saveable.

In my own experience, I lost my coolant under my front tires coming out of the diving turn at Lime Rock. Same formula as above. If it was water and antifreeze - it would have been ugly scary, as opposed to one pucker-factor-5 halfspin-catch-recover.

In the winter I store the car with antifreeze, but I won;t go out on track with it.