Evans coolant

[Andrewyates]

My Coupe has been running hot lately. All of the obvious stuff has been taken care of. Somebody recommended Evans coolant to me. Anyone had experience with this stuff?

[rf900rkw]

It will make it run hotter. Run away.

[CMM3]

Evans won't make it run any cooler, a Zionsville aluminum radiator most certainly will

[Andrewyates]

New Mishimoto radiator. New low temp thermostat. New water pump.
i got the carbon Vac intake and accompanying tune and since then it has been OK until four or five laps into a track session on a hot day. Then temp starts to rise. Ideas?

[thomas88162]

I wonder why it is that Bavarian Autosport recommends this coolant as an "upgrade"? for our cars? It is concerning to me that they do because of the obvious problems it could cause.

[Kenn]

Keep looking for WHY it's running hot, and fix that rather than attempting band-aid solutions. Are you certain it's not just the gauge not reading like it used to?

Also, BavAuto (and other places) recommend everything they sell as an upgrade, basically.

[V8Z4]

I have used Evans and am a big supporter of it. Evans will actually run "hotter" (temp gauge will show hotter) than water. However, Evans will not boil like water. Water has a nasty habit of forming micro bubbles at the fluid contact surface of the cylinder wall/head. These micro bubbles prevent the heat from transferring out of the metal to the liquid, which increase localized hot spots, which increase detonation/knock. I don't use Evans in daily driver/factory stuff, but I have used it in several vehicles over the years.

As others have said though, you need to look into WHY you vehicle is overheating. Unless you have significantly increased HP output, the factory cooling system should be more than adequate.

[rf900rkw]

The nucleate boiling argument has merit in tea pots and static boilers. It has much less effect in a high-flow high-pressure environment of an automotive cooling system. Evans is propylene glycol. PG has a DISMAL heat transfer coefficient. This means the temperature gradient from the metal to the coolant will be higher. Since the cooling system regulates the temp of the coolant, the result will be an engine that is a far bit hotter than it should be. This has nothing to do with the temp gauge (it measures coolant temp and should read thermostat temp), but the temp of the actual metal around the combustion chamber.
PG can be made to work as a coolant. The system has to be designed for the thermal transfer properties and higher viscosity of the goo. Bigger radiator, bigger passages, higher capacity water pump, lower temp thermostat, etc. It can not just be dropped into a system designed for water and work well.

As far as the current problem.

What are you using the measure coolant temp? Stock highly buffered gauge or add-on? If add-on, where is the sensor?

What are you using for coolant? In Texas, I would be running pure water with a waterpump lube (not water wetter). Water has the best thermal properties of any available coolant.

Areo -- is all the ducting and shrouding in place? The belly pan? You need a low pressure area in the engine bay, and then proper shrouding so that all the air heading to said low goers through the radiator. If there is a way around, it will.

What happens to oil temps during this problem?

[spidertri]

Randy, it seems common for track guys to switch over to pure water and water wetter. What is the reason for not using water wetter? Is it not a good product or not good at lubricating the water pump?

[rf900rkw]

Old habits die hard. Ask those track guys why they are using it and they'll like regurgitate the marketing page. When Water Wetter was introduced, it was purely as a water pump lube and anti-corrosion. And it was a dry crystal with pink dye. The misguided "wetting action" claims came later along with the name. Then they introduced the liquid (PG from above) form that didn't contain the good stuff for use in antifreezew based systems. It's no longer the same stuff, merely a marketing and hype driven shadow. The crystal version, the one that actually did something, is gone.

- - - Updated - - -

Let me clarify on that. The Evans can cause harm under the right conditions. A marginal cooling system that can't keep up with demand while running pute water is one such condition. The Water Wetter won't do any real harm beyond not living up to all the hype behind it.

[Bill Terry]

Going way back in my memory about 40 years (guess I could Google it), wetter water was developed for agricultural use.
We used it in the fire department in portable water extinguishers and as an additive in the fire truck's tanks. We were cautioned to not let it stay long in the truck tanks as it would gloop up and do damage to the pumps. Maybe the newer stuff is better than that.

[MartyBtoo]

I've been using Evans coolant in my 1947 Plymouth for about 10 years. I tried it because with the stock unpressurized cooling system it would boil water on a really hot day. In that regard, it works fine, since it won't boil until something rediculous like 280 degrees. On the other hand, it is a much thinner fluid than water, and is particularly adept at finding new places to leak from, like sealed headbolts, and waterpump bolts, and gaskets everywhere. As always, YMMV.

Marty

[spacecowboy]

Randy, it seems common for track guys to switch over to pure water and water wetter. What is the reason for not using water wetter? Is it not a good product or not good at lubricating the water pump?

It used to be that a cooling system blowing out coolant on to the track wasn't a good thing for racers following, or for easy cleanup during a race. Water wetter & water were the answer to that. It was actually a requirement for motorcyles that were tracked.

As for Evans Coolant, it is more viscous than water or a water coolant mix. That's why they recommended running it in an engine where a high flow water pump was available as an option. It also requires being run in a sealed and unpressurized system. No moisture allowed to contaminate it.

[FinnNiks]

Here is my advice.

1) Seal the gaps around the top, and sides of your radiator.

2) Get an under-tray if you don't have one.

3) I personally would recommend 70/30 H2O/BMW blue, plus water wetter.

[spidertri]

It used to be that a cooling system blowing out coolant on to the track wasn't a good thing for racers following, or for easy cleanup during a race. Water wetter & water were the answer to that. It was actually a requirement for motorcyles that were tracked.

Yeah, that is absolutely the reason for running pure water. I was wondering more about the water wetter, since it seemed to be an almost universally accepted product.

[spacecowboy]

Yeah, that is absolutely the reason for running pure water. I was wondering more about the water wetter, since it seemed to be an almost universally accepted product.

The water pump lubricant in it would be the only advantage over pure water.

[rf900rkw]

From the makers of another universally accepted product, Stewart Waterpumps

http://stewartcomponents.com/index.p...ormation_id=12