Waterless coolant

[gadge]

I'm seriously thinking of using waterless coolant in my 126. Has anyone had any experience with it? One of the leading companies on waterless coolant - Evans - ( http://www.evanscoolants.co.uk ) say that it's becoming very popular among classic car owners and anyone who uses it never turns back to water/antifreeze mix again. At something like £60 for a 5 litre tub it's not cheap but it does claim to have some fantastic qualities. Firstly because there's no water it doesn't boil, it just gets hot. Secondly it's supposed to draw heat away from components better than water and thirdly it never needs to be replaced......ever. The head gasket on 126 BIS models is there weak spot so I'm wondering if this is a good investment.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi Gadge,
these products have been used in motorsport for YEARS,
I've not used them ( retired too long ago)

but my mate at work went over to it in his Cobra last year at major rebuild time,
it's NOT a new product, so shouldn't be any nasty suprises..,

off the top of my head.. - what are sub-zero temp stats..??ie WILL it turn to gel at -5'C

Charlie

 

[homeward]

I think VmanC and Palio use it in Panto...

...we were near to the Evans stand, at the NEC, last year: and I think Vernon must have been intrigued, too!

There's also a discussion in the classic Panda section, somewhere. (Would link to it, but am on my phone... -- sorry.)

Hope this helps.

 

[Palio]

I think VmanC and Palio use it in Panto...

...we were near to the Evans stand, at the NEC, last year: and I think Vernon must have been intrigued, too!

There's also a discussion in the classic Panda section, somewhere. (Would link to it, but am on my phone... -- sorry.)

Hope this helps.

Yes it's in Panto. Too early to give a long term assessment though.

When the fan stopped working (loose connection) up in Scotland during a bit of unplanned offroading it didn't do anything ominous despite the high temp it got to before we noticed - it also cooled down very quickly after the engine was turned off. Hadn't thought about it until now, but I did wonder how it cooled so quickly, so maybe the stuff was doing its magic.

 

[GrandeGuy]

Don't you have you have to get every single Bit of water out?

 

[homeward]

Don't you have you have to get every single Bit of water out?

Yes: but see this...!

PS: Found the thread I mentioned... -- was actually in the Leisure Lounge; started by AndyRKett. It also references a discussion -- in Dragon Man's Members Motors Sisley thread... -- which is what I was probably thinking(!?) of....

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Yes: but see this...!

PS: Found the thread I mentioned... -- was actually in the Leisure Lounge; started by AndyRKett. It also references a discussion -- in Dragon Man's Members Motors Sisley thread... -- which is what I was probably thinking(!?) of....

whats interesting is a couple of months after I started that thread i lost a seal on the water pump (separate unit in a 1.3 multijet) and as a result lost all of the coolant in about 30 seconds...

if something like that does happen, pipe bursts clip breaks etc thats nearly £100 literally down the drain, you can use flushes and corrosion inhibitors to clean your coolant system and refill with 50/50 coolant and deionised water and that should keep everything running smoothly for many years to come, making sure you have a good quality thermostat,

most classic car owners who worry about head gasket issues fit electric cooling fans (kenlow) to replace the old belt driven fans many older cars have

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Yes it's in Panto. Too early to give a long term assessment though.

When the fan stopped working (loose connection) up in Scotland during a bit of unplanned offroading it didn't do anything ominous despite the high temp it got to before we noticed - it also cooled down very quickly after the engine was turned off. Hadn't thought about it until now, but I did wonder how it cooled so quickly, so maybe the stuff was doing its magic.

Although you didn't look impressed when I said, if its boiled over and the level has dropped then top it up with water to get you home and all will be fine

 

[gadge]

Thanks guys reassuring to know it's not just another magic bean story like electric turbos or special tuning boxes the way I figure it spending £90 on waterless engine prep and the coolant has to be better than doing a head gasket every three years

I've done a couple of upgrades to the coolant system such as fitting a kenlow style fan wired up to the dash and also relocated the thermostat from the bottom of the engine to the top where it should be and so far no problems yet I just wanted to cover all areas really. Unfortunately given the story's I've heard on the 126 forum and having had a gasket go on mine I have zero faith in the design and reliability of the coolant system of the BIS engine so I'm trying to create absolute protection

 

[homeward]

Although you didn't look impressed when I said, if its boiled over and the level has dropped then top it up with water to get you home and all will be fine

Why is Gavin heading in the wrong direction...?

 

[Andy Monty]

Think he turned it into the wind

 

[homeward]

Think he turned it into the wind

I hope he had both of his mohair sails raised at the time...!

 

[VmanC]

Panto has had the coolant from the start of the rebuild so we saved on the flushing fluid. Other than the coolant he's running a standard Panda 1000clx cooling system, and apart from the dodgy connection on the fan switch in Scotland there have been no problems, even in the recent hot spell he's ran with the temp gauge bang in the middle. When stopped in traffic the temp will creep up to about 100 where the fan kicks in.

Of course everything may have been fine with water/antifreeze, we won't know. For me it's the low system pressure that attracts me to the Evans coolant.