pure_insanity Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 ok, for years ive heard rumor of people running alcohol instead of anti freeze as it supposedly has a very high boiling point. while ive heard of this, ive never known a single person to do it. i can only assume that its just in really hot areas. and is it alcohol as in methanol or like rubbing-isopropyl alcohol. what do you guys know about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-O Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 A few import drag-racers in my area run distilled water with isopropyl alcohol mixed in. Haven't heard any ill-news yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntercooledFlatty Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 i tried that in my Road Runner way back when, no problems what so ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turborusty Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I know that most drag racers that run on alcohol.......don't use coolant.. HAHA. ...it burns so cold you con't need to cool the engine. As far as running it in the cooling system....I duuno what the benefit would be. as long as your cooling system holds pressure, your water shouldn't boil away. Turborusty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxzillian Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water so unless it's heat capacity is greater per volume, I don't see much advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 i tried that in my Road Runner way back when, no problems what so ever. how much alcohol to how much water? this is most curious. i dont want to do it but its something ive always been curious about and just never asked till now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcrasta Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Doesnt have corrosion protection or anti-rust additives that coolant has. Only reason not to run coolant is because of issues if it spills (at the track).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Water is the key player in coolant due to its high boiling point, heat capacity and the amount of energy needed to drive it from liquid to gas (boil). Water also has problems such as freezing and supporting life as in mold and other funk. Ethylene glycol or propylene glycol (lowtox formula) correct the downside of water as a coolant and they have a di-alcohol structure so you are already running water/alcohol assuming you have the standard mix in your system. The downside to glycols is that they don't clean up well (evaporate) so tracks don't like the greasy spots they leave behind. You can run water and regular alcohol but you don't get any of the long term coolant system health benefits of a modern coolant. Methanol is completely miscilble with water at any concentration but the more alcohol the less water so the less cooling system capacity. Ethanol is pretty tolerant of water, isopropanol has its limits but I can't recall them at the moment, higher alcohols aren't worth messing with as they smell bad and/or become solids. I would think 5% alcohol would help resist freezing and kill most plant life. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kr0nus Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I ran distilled water and (some) water wetter just fine. I still do on my bike. You really don't need to run true anti-freeze unless you are in a freezing environment. I used the water wetter for lubrication basically. Distilled water has far less corrosive properties over normal water. Water wetter helps with corrosion as well too though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strang3majik Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I believe alcohol has a lower specific heat (meaning, soaks up less heat per unit volume) so, it wouldn't be as efficient. But, Ill check on the science of it that way...have to do a quarterly science extension anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8starion Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I know Kr0nus covered this already put I think Water wetter is along the lines of what your looking for. My freind uses this in his supercharged vette and he loves it. He has had some real bad overheating problems. http://www.redlineoil.com/products_coolant.asp :character0056: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyers151 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I've also heard that Water Wetter and similar products reduce the surface tension of the coolant mix, making it flow more readily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighterpilot Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Nothing new. That has been around a long time. The US Army Air Force & US Navy ran a distilled water, corrosion inhibitor and iso alcohol solution in the aircraft engines back during WWII. I think that I remember my Dad telling me that the US Navy used the distilled water, iso alcohol plus a corrosion inhibitor solution in the submarine force's diesel engine coolant systems during WWII also. He was a Chief MotorMac during WWII on diesel subs. For What It's Worth. KEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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