what the heck!! Over heating?

[primerk5]

Today Took the blazer out and got about two miles from home and my truck was at 260 degrees. So I shut it down and waited for it cool down. The theremostat isn't that old. My father thinks that the antifreeze may have froze in the bottom of the radiator. But I filled it with wally-world cheap stuff. (premixed) Whats your suggestions?

 

[4xcrazy]

Well how cold did it get that night, i had that happen to mine a few years ago when i lived in Flagstaff, it got below freezing, went to drive away in the morning for work and engine temp was the same around 260, felt the engine,,,it was hot, felt the radiator,,,it was cold, so i let it sit for awhile, basically till the radiator thawed out and everything was fine.

Had to install more straight antifreeze to the mixture,,,more than 50/50 mix.

 

[goldwing2000]

Whats your suggestions?

Check the actual protection of the coolant. If it was mostly water before and you added premix in, then you're not protected very well.
Buy a $5 antifreeze tester and check it, then add enough 100% ethylene glycol to get the mixture up to 50/50 (-34° protection).

Since you live in a cold climate, you could go as high as a 60/40 mix but don't go any higher than that.

 

[4xcrazy]

Since you live in a cold climate, you could go as high as a 60/40 mix but don't go any higher than that.

any particular reason for this statement? just curious as to why you think you cannot go any higher,,,before i knew what i know about coolant/antifreeze now, i used to run 100%, never had any problems, now i really only run a 60/40 mix all the time here in Arizona.


What do they run up in Alaska, i do believe it gets colder than -34 alot of times up there,,,doesn't it?


again, nothing personal, not an attack, just curious to your opinion on this

 

[diesel4me]

It'll freeze!!

Antifreeze WILL freeze if not mixed with water!..you need at least 30% water,or Ethelyne Glycol will jell up and freeze just under zero degrees!..

I never believed it either,until I worked at a gas station a friend owned..I was putting jugs of antifreeze inside the station that were left outside the office door on display..they were frozen and felt like jello!..I told my boss that the antifreeze must be defective,it was frozen!..but he said "no,it freezes if there is no water mixed in with it!...WTF?? ..I've never understood that !..adding water that freezes at 32 degrees LOWERS the freezing point of antifreeze??? ...

Also,my friends dad has a mint 66 Mustang 2+2 he bought brand new,and has done 2 frame off restorations on it..he was having trouble with it overheating,it also threw hardly any heat from the heater...and I asked him if he had a 50/50 mix in it for antifreeze..he says "hell no,I run PURE Prestone,100% in it!!--I dont want any rust in my motor,I just had it hot tanked,rebuilt,and a brand new modine radiator put in it"..

He replaced the thermostat,and the water pump,before trying my suggestion of adding WATER to the prestone..he said I was nuts,but as a last resort, he drained a gallon out, and added water...the heater blew fire,and the temp gauge returned to its normal point of about 3/8 of the way up on the dial!..I won 10 bucks on that bet! ..but I'm still baffled as to how antifreeze can freeze without water,or not cool as effictively as it does mixed VS pure??..

 

[primerk5]

I'll get a tester and try it tomarrow. I'll let you all know the results.

 

[goldwing2000]

Water is a much better coolant than antifreeze because it is able to "absorb" more heat energy than ethylene glycol (and other antifreeze ingredients) and carry it to the radiator for disipation into the air. In physics, this is referred to as the "specific heat" of a substance and refers to how much energy (joules) it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of that substance by 1 degree celcius. It takes 4.2 joules for water, 2.2 for ethylene glycol and 1 joule for air. Or in other words, you can pump more energy (heat) into water with less increase in its temperature as compared to ethylene glycol. Therefore about twice as much fluid would have to travel through the engine to remove the same amount of heat energy when comparing water to ethylene glycol, assuming you wanted to keep the engine temp constant. The low specific heat of air is why we have to have so much surface area on a radiator to take the heat energy out of the fluid. Of course, water alone provides no protection for corrosion and will freeze, thus antifreeze coolants were invented. Based on what environment you drive your car, you pick the mix that is best suited to protecting your engine and coolant system from overheating, freezing, and corrosion. Ethylene glycol also weighs less per gallon than water, which requires more volume of fluid since specific heat is measured per unit of weight, not volume. While ethylene glycol in general is worse for heat dissipation from the engine, it does have one positive contribution in that it will raise the boiling point of water keeping a borderline overheat situation from turning into a boilover.

Here, too:
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl174b.htm?