Date:         Sat, 5 Feb 2011 10:52:26 -0800
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Canadian Mix (mea culpa, sort of)
Comments: To: mcneely4@cox.net
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8"; reply-type=original

All very good.
for 'most people' and most cars and climates .
or 'normal people, cars and climates' let's say.

it's very easy to remember ...half water, half anti-frz.
It's been that way for decades ! ..
( well, with climate change some people need a richer mixture probably these
day )

It' says  32 below F right on most a-frz bottles for 50/50 I believe.
Just do half and half ....works fine for most people and cars.

check out the boiling point sometime ..
I had some 50/50 Dexcool running in a car towing a vanagon  for many miles
and then up a long hill  in high temps ..
drove the poor car until the fuel boiled and it flamed out  ..
no cooling system harm though ..( temp needle sure got up there too )
I checked the Dexcool bottle..I think it said 276 F boiling point at 50/50.

oh ... at a discount auto parts store you can get a handle little tester
hydrometer thing ..
for under 3 bucks..
tells your a-frz concentration in just seconds.   It's silly not to have
one, they're so handy an inexpensive.


----- Original Message -----
From: <mcneely4@cox.net>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>; "Scott Daniel - Turbovans"
<scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 10:30 AM
Subject: Re: Canadian Mix (mea culpa, sort of)


> Well, I looked it up in my owner's book (what VW says about coolant
> concentrations).  So, here it is, from page 104 in the owner's book for my
> Volkswagen Vanagon GL Campmobile (and I don't know anyone who calls these
> vehicles "Campmobiles", but plenty of people call them "campers"):
>
> "The coolant consist of a mixtur of water and the manufacturer's coolant
> additive G 11 -- antifreeze on glycol basis with anticorrosion additives
> (40% for USA models; 50% for Canadian models)."
>
> Then, a little further down:
>
> "The coolant additive proportion must be at least 40% but not more than
> 60% to maintain the antifreeze protection and the cooling efficiency."
>
> Still another place:  "For year round driving, antifreeze is added at the
> factory for temperatures down to:  -13 F/-25 C  (USA);  -40 F/ -40 C
> (Canada) ."
>
> So, I knew the recommendation was for a higher concentration for Canada,
> but I had it too high for both Canada and the U.S., so far as the owner's
> book is concerned.  For my money, -13 F isn't adequate for parts of the
> U.S., even Oklahoma, as we had temperatures below that in parts of the
> state this week (and we do most years on one or two occasions, usually out
> west in the Panhandle).  Coldest here was -7 F Thursday morning.  It is 41
> F right now, and the 15 inches of snow is melting.  We expect more tonight
> and Tuesday, however.
>
> Since I see reports most winters for temperatures below -35 F in parts of
> the upper plains states and the northern Rockies, and for Alaska and parts
> of Canada, if I drove in those places in winter, I'd provide the 60%
> concentration mentioned elsewhere.
>
> mcneely