Coolant Mixture Check, Hot or Cold?

[cn90]

Found this on this website:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub ... hypothesis


Reposting the image of Specific Gravity vs Temp for the standard 50-50 mixture:

EthyleneGlycol_Specific_Gravity.jpg (71.28 KiB) Viewed 1112 times

[abscate]

For the scientist at home. Find two identical glasses that hold about 1 cup (250 ml) each

Tare them on a balance scale (that is, put them on a balance beam and move them until they are equally balanced.

Now fill one with water and one with the EG solution under test

Use pennies, weighing 2.5g each, to rebalance the beam and figure out how much extra your coolant weighs. Measure the volume in a cup and you can deduce the coolant mix.

Or if you can find a cylindrical container...

Fill it with water completely, cap it off. Now float the cylindrical container in the coolant mix, and sharpie mark the float line. The ratio of the length submerged to the total length is the ratio of the densities of the mixtures.

I can also make this measurement with a femtosecond laser if anyone has one in their basement.

[MrAl]

Your taking me too seriously Al. I was yanking your chain on the monitors not ready thread.

Sorry about that, Ill probably get another moderator warning for this, although apparently pHp doesn't let you...

You cannot warn yourself.

Hi,

Oh ok, well there was no smiley face so i had no idea it was a joke.
You got me to think about it though

[MrAl]

Or do an experiment on specific gravity vs temp with a mix of 50-50 in a metal pot.
Whatever you do, don't contaminate with food for obvious reason: antifreeze is toxic!

- Put in in freezer to get it down to -20C: measure with coolant tester and see where the arrow points to.
- Repeat with temp at 0C.
- Repeat with room temp 20C.
- Heat to 100C, measure again.

Once done, wait for it to cool down and save it for future use.

Anyone wants to do this experiment for the group? Remember high school chemistry class?

PS: I think the tester is designed for room temp.

Hi,

You think metal is good to use for this test, wouldnt glass be better?

But anyway, i did some tests and i'll provide the details in the next post which addresses your chart and other.

Thanks.

[MrAl]

Hello again Steve and cn90,

I tested the car (cold) now with the new tester and it showed it is at least a 50/50 mixture maybe a little better.

Steve:
I did some tests and the results were good. A 50/50 mixture showed -20 degrees and a 56/44 mixture (more antifreeze than water) showed -45 degrees. I am pretty satisfied with that, although i may test one more time just to confirm.
The tests are pretty easy to do because all i have to do is mix various concentrations and then test with the tester. The little ball tester is somehow not working right, but this new one "Peak" detector sold at AutoZone seems to be much better, cost $3.00 USD. The car itself tests good with this tester.

cn90:

Found this on this website:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub ... hypothesis


Reposting the image of Specific Gravity vs Temp for the standard 50-50 mixture:

EthyleneGlycol_Specific_Gravity.jpg

That's the chart i used to deduce that between concentrations of 0 to 60 percent and for temperatures from 50 to 250 degrees F the specific gravity is a tilted plane in 3d space x,y,z. I'll post the multivariate equation at some point.

Thanks for posting.

[abscate]

-20 F is fine for your climate Al. It might touch -20 on the most coldest winter day but your car will never get that cold. It routinely would get there in Ithaca but be a balmy -10 by noon

[MrAl]

Hi again,

Oh yes, ok thanks. With this meter i think it reads -20 when it is really closer to -34 though, but i will double check this at some point. I got that from what i think was a 50/50 mixture, but i got to that mixture after adding several units of antifreeze, then adding 1 unit of water a few days later, so if i made a mistake somewhere that wont be as accurate. In any case though, the car itself tests to a lower minus degree reading, so it is either a 50/50 mixture (which my antifreeze lists as good down to -34) or it is actually better than that, maybe 55/45 (antifreeze/water).
When i got the car back from the garage i had to bring it right back to get more antifreeze because the 'coolant' light came on. That's what i dont like about these rad's with no actual rad cap only the overflow tank cap, you cant fill it up all at once you have to wait until you run it, then turn off, then add some more (or similar). So it turns out that i have to add about two cups more to the coolant tank, which if pure antifreeze, should bring the protection down below -34 for sure

Hey thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I see you have multiple cars there, you are very lucky, most of us only have one. You probably see these problems a lot more though so you gain experience with the different types of cars. My old 88 Hyundai which i still miss when parking in a small spot (ha ha) had NO monitors. That's right, zero monitoralies (chuckle), and was really easy to park because it was so small. The car ended up being a piece of junk though at the end of life with a ton of rust and oil leaks by the gallon.

[abscate]

5 cars and 7 drivers from 16 to 91.

Gotta live grandma though, 86 and she doesn't like cars that try to shift for you, she likes to do that. Inspired all the teens to not be out-cooled by the white haired lady

[MrAl]

Hi again,

Oh that's funny. Nice to hear an older person is getting along good though. We'll all be there some day if we make it that far.

I forgot to mention that when i took my old Hyundai to a garage they would always complain about how junky it was. One guy told me that it belonged in a junk yard

I couldnt help but notice your flag doesnt look right. Looks like the wrong location, and i saw a notice about that today at the top of the page here.

[abscate]

Ive applied for a special exemption since I have royalty driving my Volvos this year - hope to hear back soon from the Management.

If you see my warnings go up to 2, Im in trouble.