Also, I don't think you need much AntiFreeze in Arizona. I don't here in TX. Rather than the "standard" 50-50 ratio, I use around 20-25% AF to water. Just enough to keep the freezing point down, and the boiling point up, and provide the nutrients to keep engine wear (from chemical reactions with water and aluminum and iron) to a minimum. Antifreeze is a poor conductor of heat, and therefore cools slowly. It is oily, and think about how long hot water burns your skin, as opposed to hot oil or hot tar. I would much rather have water as it cools much faster. Therefore, less AF and more water should cool more efficiently. But not too little AF, as it provides protection to the engine, and lowers the freeze point, and raises the boil point. Finding the right combination is the difficult part. Hey Rick How's things goin? Love the riser you sold me. Did some adjustments on the carb, and it runs GREAT now! Idles better, starts easier. Feels like more low-end and high-end power. Thanks. Scott
On second thought, with the new aluminum radiator, not to mention the high-flow thermo and new water pump, you should have a problem opening up the thermostat AT ALL!!! You have something else as a problem... TL may have a point, but also check for too hot spark plugs, too lean mixture, and that sort of thing. These are the real reason mine is overheating, I just like the lean hot mix and choose to do bandaid fixes to keep it cool. With 8:1 compression, and an inability to make it ping, even if I advance it 45 degrees, I figure I can live with hotter mix and plugs.
i am running 9.5:1 pistons....i dont think it is too lean....but it could be richer...i need larger jets.... i dont have an aluminum radiator...its 4row....copper.... aluminum water pump is on hold...the water pump i have is a stiock iron....that i bought new when i did the swap...december 2003 (since the swap i have maybe total of 5000 miles on the engine) spark plugs are motorcraft...gapped is stock....cant remember off the top of my head.. i lowered the mix ratio a bit..not sure exactly what it is...but around 80w/20af and the block was bored .040 over.... thanks for the help guys....i am positive i will track this demon down
You need to run 50/50 or even 70/30 (30 being the water). Antifreeze-coolant actually cools better than plain water...
ok now i am confused......someone please tell me what ratio is good for a desert climate as i have conflicting answers... thanks
I think I found your problem, if your block is 40 over this is why it is running hotter than usual, that and the climate you live in.....my block is also 40 over and runs hotter than normal. If I didn't have a high flow pump, 18 inch fan and smaller pulley mine would do the same as yours. Ford and most engine builders highly suggest not going over 30 on a SBF because the casting is so thin. I am getting ready to install an aluminum radiator so I can install my A/C back on mine, my buddies Fairlane was doing the same as your and he bought a Jegs 27 X 19 Universal Ford radiator for 169.00 and his is a chilly 160 degrees on the highway and 175 at idle, his car is a 289 at 40 over also.
TL, that is two votes for water... Actually, I think we are both correct. Water cools better, but the correct mixture of both probably cools better than either alone. I tend to run mine lean, more water than antifreeze. It just works better for me. If I lived in Denver, or New York, and it actually got cold here, I would use more AF to water. For us desert dwellers, I find that just enough AF to get the chemical properties and benefits that antifreeze provides (less metal dissolving, higher boiling point, and lower freezing point) is all we need. We don't need to protect from freezing "to -45 F", and I don't plan on letting the engine heat to 245 F. I am currently using approx 20% and having good cooling properties and protection, for the conditions I live in.
Has "Water Wetter" been mentioned yet? Supposed to drop coolant temperatures by breaking the surface tension of the water so it comes in contact with the metal better and therefore pulls more heat from whatever it contacts. Having studied surfacants and water properties back in some chemistry class years ago, I remember that it should work. http://www.autobarn.net/wawebyre.html ..
Antifreeze does not cool better than water. That's why racers use 100% water and water wetter chemical. But for street,...yes, you need 15-25% antifreeze to protect the metals and pump and to help with boil over protection and freezing in cold climates. I'm running 75% water & 25% anti with water wetter.
got a part number on that....i can afford that....and i think i could get that without the wife complaining too much,.... and i have used water wetter....jsut not recently....i will try it again...anything that helps i suppose thanks for the help everyone...it is greatly appreciated
Antifreeze-coolant raises the boiling point of water. Water does not cool better by itself than when mixed with antifreeze-coolant. The combination of the two make for the best cooling properties. 50/50 is the best ratio for cooling. 70/30 for cold climates where freezing is a concern...
Interesting excerpt comparing water and ethylene glycol/anti-freeze: ["Water wetter gives me good horsepower gains and lower temperatures over antifreeze. Plain water conducts heat much better than a 50 - 50% mix of Antifreeze. Antifreeze is actually a very bad conductor of heat. The more antifreeze you add, the less "heat" your radiator can remove. Do you want proof? Try running 100% antifreeze and watch your temp gauge climb to red on the next big hill. The Hydrogen molecules in water or (H²0) have a much greater heat transfer rate and storage capacity(specific heat capacity) than good old antifreeze. Antifreeze is actually a bad conductor of heat. Antifreeze can cause "over-heating" in many cases but without it your cars radiator will rust and clog-up and the liquid will freeze in cold weather. Water alone has almost double the heat transfer capacity of a 50% -50% glycol or ethyl alcohol mix. Many people think Antifreeze helps cool an engine in hot weather. Actually the more Antifreeze you add the less efficient your cooling system becomes and the hotter your engine will get."] The laws of physics don't change just because of someones opinion. Water can conduct more heat than antifreeze. Anti-freeze does help raise the boiling point, but don't confuse that with how much heat it can absorb. Click on link and scroll down to "Thermal Properties" http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/redtech3.htm Or if you don't want to wade through the article, here's an interesting section of it; THERMAL PROPERTIES Water has amazingly superior heat transfer properties compared to virtually any other liquid cooling medium - far superior to glycol-based coolants. As shown in Table 1, water has almost 2.5 times greater thermal conductivity compared to glycol coolants. Mixtures of glycol and water have nearly proportional improvement due to the addition of water. Most heat is transferred in a cooling system by convection from hot metal to a cooler liquid as in the engine block or from a hot liquid to cooler metal surfaces, as in the radiator. The convection coefficient of liquids in a tube is a complicated relationship between the thermal conductivity, viscosity of the liquid, and the tube diameter which determines the amount of turbulent flow. Since 50/50 glycol solution has about 4 times the viscosity and only 70% of the thermal conductivity of water, the thermal convection coefficient for a 50/50 glycol solution is approximately 50% of the coefficient for water. Water in the cooling system is capable of transferring twice as much heat out of the same system as compared to a 50/50 glycol coolant and water solution. In order for a 50/50 glycol mixture to reject as much heat as water (amount of heat rejected is independent of the coolant), the temperature differentials at the heat transfer surface must be twice as great, which means higher cylinder head temperatures. Of course you need anitfreeze to help with boil-over protection, it will have a higher boiling point than water alone. But in racing conditions (ie: Drag) the water (+ wetter chemical) will cool down much quicker than the anit/water mix. It's no mystery nor is it difficult to understand. But for street driving, yes we all need to run the mix for the help with boilover, freeze, and anti corrosion protection. However chemically speaking,....water absorbs more heat than the glycol mixes. That is just a simple fact.
No one said anything about running "100% antifreeze" in a cooling system. I stand by my statement that mixed together provides for optimum cooling properties. Straight antifreeze will not cool sufficiently and neither will straight water in a hot climate. I know what I'm talking about and will not argue the subject any further...
It has been proven, and I wish I had links and articles from years ago. Pure water cools better than pure antifreeze. I think the peak cooling was achieved with 45% AF to 55% water, but 50/50 is close enough. I feel the same way. Been there, done that. Don't want to believe it? learn it the hard way. Real world experience has shown the temp drop by a few degrees with a 50/50 mix.
