The Ford Barn

Lawrie · 07-31-2019, 12:47 AM

We are away in our 33 for 3 weeks, it has been going great these last months,
But the day before we left I had the bright idea of dropping out the water and replacing it with the green coolant that we had just drained from our dragster,(cheapskate me).
At the first fuel stop I checked the rad and had to add about 8 litres,air lock I THOUGHT,next fuel stop another 8-10 litres, what the ****,
On slowing down for the next town saw the temp gauge go above 90c,
So I stopped and had a good look,no leaks overflow tube dry,
Then I thought back,the only thing changed was the coolant,
So I drained it out and filled it with plain water,(after cooling down)
Hey presto engine temp now back to normal 75 -80 C no increase on the hills and no water usage
I think that the coolant from the dragster might have had some methanol contamination (lots), and the cool and was about 5 yrs old.
Good fuel economy so far 220 klms on 34 litres.
Lawrie

07-31-2019, 12:47 AM	#1
Lawrie Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Qld, Australia Posts: 4,216	Coolant drama We are away in our 33 for 3 weeks, it has been going great these last months, But the day before we left I had the bright idea of dropping out the water and replacing it with the green coolant that we had just drained from our dragster,(cheapskate me). At the first fuel stop I checked the rad and had to add about 8 litres,air lock I THOUGHT,next fuel stop another 8-10 litres, what the ****, On slowing down for the next town saw the temp gauge go above 90c, So I stopped and had a good look,no leaks overflow tube dry, Then I thought back,the only thing changed was the coolant, So I drained it out and filled it with plain water,(after cooling down) Hey presto engine temp now back to normal 75 -80 C no increase on the hills and no water usage I think that the coolant from the dragster might have had some methanol contamination (lots), and the cool and was about 5 yrs old. Good fuel economy so far 220 klms on 34 litres. Lawrie