The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Antifreeze question

I typically use a mixture of 50/50 prestone in the old trucks and leave it at that.
I do not read concentration regularly as I never had an issue.
They are currently in storage in upstate New York where the temperature got down as low as -20 one evening.
Like many I never anticipated this unusual cold. if the antifreeze were a bit "weak" what's the reality of damage?

Thanks

I wouldn't concern yourself with 50/50

the garage probably didnt get down to -20 anyway.

50/50 Ethylene Glycol/Water solution is good down to -34F IIRC.
Even below that it doesn't form solid ice, but more of a slush.
Same should be true of a weaker solution. If you started with 50/50, there isn't anything that should significantly change the concentration.

My concern about anti freeze is, as it ages does it still give the same protection?

Should be fine. The only thing it loses is it's ability to inhibit corrosion. Freeze protection doesn't change.

I live on a farm with several cars, trucks, tractors, and a few other water-cooled machines. I used to "temporarily" run straight water after a repair in warm weather, "just to make sure nothing is leaking". Then I would forget what did and didn't get anti-freeze, until the first bitter cold night at about 11pm when I would panic and start going from garage, to shed, to barn with a flashlight and hydrometer. Now no project leaves the shop without 50-50. It ain't worth the worry

That's kind of what I was thinking myself
Even at a slightly "weaker" mixture it would likely turn slushy before a complete freeze

I froze my 5.3 GMC earlier in November. The waterpump was leaking like a sieve and the truck was going to soon be scrapped. So I added water every day til I was gone for a few days. The engine froze up solid, threw the serpentine belt when I tried starting it. I put it inside, got the belt back on and after a while it started again, no cracked anything.

Lucky.

Back in the 50's my grandfather ran water in his late 40's AD pickup. When the weather got cold he'd pour a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the radiator and throw an old quilt over the front of the hood and grille. It worked for years.....then bang, one year the block split down the side. Some stop leak and he drove it for another two or three years.
...those were the days.

I agree with redwing, depending on where you live, that a 50/50 mixture is in order and forget it.
To save money though I buy the concentrate and mix my own. Kind of like 2 gallons for the price of one.

I was watching one of those car resto channels on the boob tube and someone said not use tap water when mixing concentrate because it contains minerals which can help corrosion. They said to use distilled water which is supposedly pure H2O. I don't know if I should believe any of that mumbo jumbo. I always used water outta the garden hose.

"BELIEVE"

I used water most of my life but as radiators "changed" I decided to use distilled water. Since I use it in my C-Pap machine I just pick up an extra gallon or two. I can get it most places here for a buck a gallon, no more than $1.10 plus, its good if you have to add to a battery.
.......At my age anything to prolong the life of one of my vehicles means I may not be the one who has to fix it.!

My water is very hard with minerals, usually take water out of the dehumidifier and pour it in the rad.

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"BELIEVE"[/quote]
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Thanks for the good idea, Leo

That drip from the heat pump drain is moisture condensed out of the air. That's about as mineral-free as it gets (if you really believe in that load of fertilizer some people are shoveling!)
Jerry

"BELIEVE"
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