[amitk26]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Not really! The boiling point elevation is achieved by having the system under pressure.

Well Anup sahab the boiling point is indeed elevated for ethylene glycol and water mixture at normal pressure for 70% mixture which the the ratio used as coolant the BP=118 degree Celsius , Since radiator is pressurized in a car the benefit of raised boiling point is further enhanced.

Ethylene Glycol Heat-Transfer Fluid

This is the main reason why water does not boil over and today there is no need to get down midway to fetch water in a jerrycan and get murdered like Rajkiran in the movie Karz

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Well Anup sahab the boiling point is indeed elevated for ethylene glycol and water mixture at normal pressure for 70% mixture which the the ratio used as coolant the BP=118 degree Celsius , Since radiator is pressurized in a car the benefit of raised boiling point is further enhanced.

Ethylene Glycol Heat-Transfer Fluid

This is the main reason why water does not boil over and today there is no need to get down midway to fetch water in a jerrycan and get murdered like Rajkiran in the movie Karz

are you implying that with ethyl glycol+water, you can raise the bpoilign point so high that it doesn't boil over in the car and you don't need a pressure cap to keep it from boiling?

What anupmathur is saying is pressure cap is the primary measure of containing the coolant. Regardless of what ethyl glycol does to water (from 100 t0 107 is not a very large increase for 50-50 mix).

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

are you implying that with ethyl glycol+water, you can raise the bpoilign point so high that it doesn't boil over in the car and you don't need a pressure cap to keep it from boiling?

What anupmathur is saying is pressure cap is the primary measure of containing the coolant. Regardless of what ethyl glycol does to water (from 100 t0 107 is not a very large increase for 50-50 mix).

No I am not implying that please re-read carefully previous post once more

Etheline glycol and water is used in approx 30 -70 ratio not 50-50.

For pure water BP=100 deg celcius which will be raised by applying pressure in the radiator.

If for a mixture ( 30:70) BP=104.4 deg celcius then the BP under pressure will be much higher then what it would have been for pure water.

So the pressure required to prevent the mix from boiling over is much lower.
Which in turn means that pipes and fittings for circulation can be of lower tolerance and cheaper.

In principle, water alone could be used as a heat exchange fluid, but its vapor pressure doubles from 1 to
2 atmospheres at a temperature just over 120 C.
The main reason ethylene glycol is used in radiator coolant mix in warm climate is this property of raising BP and not the antifreeze property which is relevant in winter months in cold countries. So in our country the mixture should be rightly called anti-boil.

After writing this I found and excellent link which explains this anti-boil property under pressure.

Antifreeze and High Temperature

[carboy]

Originally Posted by david.mcgreggor

Uh-oh!

I recently got the coolant changed when I went to fill fuel. The guy told me that there was too much water and the mixture was too thin; so I asked him to change it. Since i just purchased the car ('98 carb'd Esteem) I'm not well aware of these things.

He put in 3or4liters (not sure) of pure coolant.

What should I do? Flush a portion out and top up with water? Or just let it be?

Cheers,
Dave

How do you know it was pure additive? Are you saying that it was because you didn't see him mix anything with whatever came out of the bottle or because you checked what was written on the label? Because some bottles are premixed - so you don't need further dilution.

[Thad E Ginathom]

That's why I am suggesting he get the concentration checked. It might be just fine.

[david.mcgreggor]

Originally Posted by carboy

How do you know it was pure additive? Are you saying that it was because you didn't see him mix anything with whatever came out of the bottle or because you checked what was written on the label? Because some bottles are premixed - so you don't need further dilution.

He drained the existing coolant (additive and water) from the radiator and added in only the additive. MAX Blue or something, I went back to the pump last night and checked the bottle. It should be used in a 1:3 ratio with water.

The audacity of the attendant yesterday was a whole other chapter by itself. He went on to tell me that since my car runs on LPG as well, this is safer as LPG makes the engine hotter.. Sheesh, these idiots I tell ya!

[carboy]

Originally Posted by david.mcgreggor

He drained the existing coolant (additive and water) from the radiator and added in only the additive. MAX Blue or something, I went back to the pump last night and checked the bottle. It should be used in a 1:3 ratio with water.

Similiar thing happened to me at a petrol pump couple of weeks back. He said he will top up the coolant. I asked him if he is going to mix it, he said no - it doesn't require to be mixed. I took the bottle from him & showed him the instructions which say 1:3 ratio. I said it should be mixed with distilled water. Then he agreed to do it, but he said he usually uses tap water. I told him then that I don't want it. Finally, I have just topped it up with distilled water on my own. It seems to be Ok after a few weeks. Level hasn't decreased much.

My car (Swift) uses the Golden Cruiser Blue Coolant, I think.
First of all blue coolant is very difficult to find - green one is more commonly available - it's available in 250 ml, 500 ml & 1 litre & it's usually Castrol or some other brand.
In the odd shop which stocks Blue coolant, Golden Cruiser is never available. Castrol or others have only the 1 litre botle only.

When my coolant was at the Low mark, I needed around 1/2 litre of distilled water (pure without additive) to top it up to High Mark.
So if I mixing stuff, I would need at max 250 ml of the additive.
I can't even find 500 ml of any Blue coolant, so it seems a lost cause.

[Gansan]

If we find the coolant at the low level, should it be topped up with coolant/water mixture or water alone? At MASS they use plain canned drinking water (not tap water) and not distilled water. They use it even for mixing fresh coolant while changing the entire contents of the radiator. The SA told me this is the best practice as most of the distilled water we buy may be slightly acidic. Any takes on this?

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Gansan

If we find the coolant at the low level, should it be topped up with coolant/water mixture or water alone?

You can top up with plain water , If you can find distilled water it is ever better . Eventually after few top ups the dilution of ethylene glycol will be lower then optimal and also due to disintegration etc. It is recommended to change coolant mix in 2 years.

Originally Posted by Gansan

At MASS they use plain canned drinking water (not tap water) and not distilled water. They use it even for mixing fresh coolant while changing the entire contents of the radiator. The SA told me this is the best practice as most of the distilled water we buy may be slightly acidic. Any takes on this?

Plain BS from SA , distilled water cost money that is the sole reason it is never acidic. However using plain water is not very harmful as Coolant has anti-corrosive agents added to take care of normal tap water.

Originally Posted by carboy

My car (Swift) uses the Golden Cruiser Blue Coolant, I think.
First of all blue coolant is very difficult to find - green one is more commonly available - it's available in 250 ml, 500 ml & 1 litre & it's usually Castrol or some other brand.

Color does not make any difference it is just a die used as market so that you can notice level / leaks easily. Use any of the brand mentioned in your manual irrespective of color.

Originally Posted by david.mcgreggor

He drained the existing coolant (additive and water) from the radiator and added in only the additive. MAX Blue or something, I went back to the pump last night and checked the bottle. It should be used in a 1:3 ratio with water.

buy some distilled water from battery shop if you are particular on that. Take car to some road side mechanic who can drain the radiator , Mix it again with water and refill.

[carboy]

Distilled water is never acidic. However dionized water is acidic. However, does anyone know if the distilled water sold in battery shops is real distilled water (made by boiling & condensing) or just dionized water sold as distilled water because dionizing is a cheaper process than distilling, I think.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by carboy

Similiar thing happened to me at a petrol pump couple of weeks back. He said he will top up the coolant. I asked him if he is going to mix it, he said no - it doesn't require to be mixed. I took the bottle from him & showed him the instructions which say 1:3 ratio. I said it should be mixed with distilled water. Then he agreed to do it, but he said he usually uses tap water. I told him then that I don't want it. Finally, I have just topped it up with distilled water on my own. It seems to be Ok after a few weeks. Level hasn't decreased much.

My car (Swift) uses the Golden Cruiser Blue Coolant, I think.
First of all blue coolant is very difficult to find - green one is more commonly available - it's available in 250 ml, 500 ml & 1 litre & it's usually Castrol or some other brand.
In the odd shop which stocks Blue coolant, Golden Cruiser is never available. Castrol or others have only the 1 litre botle only.

When my coolant was at the Low mark, I needed around 1/2 litre of distilled water (pure without additive) to top it up to High Mark.
So if I mixing stuff, I would need at max 250 ml of the additive.
I can't even find 500 ml of any Blue coolant, so it seems a lost cause.

But why are you hunting for it when you can easily buy a Golden Cruiser (yes, it is blue colored!) bottle at any authorised Maruti workshop? All authorized workshops are supposed to use GC only.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

But why are you hunting for it when you can easily buy a Golden Cruiser (yes, it is blue colored!) bottle at any authorised Maruti workshop? All authorized workshops are supposed to use GC only.

But do the Maruti outlets sell it OTC? I had asked Vitesse for air filters & they said they don't sell it OTC - they will only change it for me if required.

Also Golden Cruiser also sells green coloured coolants which is used in other Maruti vehicles.

[Raccoon]

^^^Hmm, didn't think about that. You'll have to check it out. But I'm sure you'll be able to get it somewhere/somehow...

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

^^^Hmm, didn't think about that. You'll have to check it out. But I'm sure you'll be able to get it somewhere/somehow...

Check with Ravi Automobiles (MASS) - they said they don't sell it OTC.

[johnruben]

@ Raccoon, I got 2 bottles of Golden Cruiser (blue) which is a MGP now from Bimal MASS.
one was billed and the other was given freely by MASS to me
I guess you can avail from them saying you are a customer, it would be better if you know someone inside.