Questions about the cooling system?

[bookie0116]

OK here's my questions. Please answer all or part it would really be appreciated. First of all, is it possible for anti-freeze coolant or water to dissintegrate or evaporate? Because i can't see where i'm loosing water from. And i'm not loosing water or fluid too frequently, only about once every 3 days or so i have to refill it. Also, does the temperature gauge inside the car measure how hot the water is or how hot the engine is? Because when i touch the water it feels boiling hot too me. And last but not least, what is anti-freeze really good for and could water be just as good? Because so many people have told me different things about coolant. They say it's only good for the summer time, then others say it's only good for winter time, then others say it's not for this car or that car, Still others say it's just as good as water, etc lots of other things i have heard. So what is it really good for. Because i have listened to them and have used water in my Catera, and now the darn thing is getting rusty inside of the water tank. Should i get the radiator flushed and filled back up with clean coolant?

[texanwitharake]

ok ill try my best to get this right. first water boils at 100 degrees f and freezes at 32 degrees f so if you only have water in there it will freeze at 32 degrees and boil at 100 degrees neither are good for the engine. when you add anti-freeze it raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point. if the water freezes or boils it cannot cool down the enigie and youll have a whole lot of scrap metal after awhile. if there is a leak somewhere in the system and you do not have the correct mixture yes it can evaporate but what it sounds like to me is that there is a leak some where especially if you are refilling after only 3 days you might not see a spot on the ground it might be hitting the engine and evaporating. and if im not wrong the temp gauges the temp of the coolent comming out of the engine. i personaly would have the radiator and system flushed and refill with COOLENT. another thing that coolent has is all sorts of aditives that keep the engine rusting from the inside out and other such things. if your loosing coolent that quickly you deffinatly have a leak and you should probably have it serisouly looked at before the problem gets worse.

[lakesidepark]

Water boils at 212 degrees F (100C)...but that's what you meant I'm sure . Anti-freeze does not raise the boiling point - the pressure of the cooling system does (that's why when you take the cap off a hot engine it boils over like a geyser). The coolant temp of the Cat runs from 200 thru 215 as normal, up to 230 before the big red light comes on. If you see that light you are already in trouble and about 7/8 on the gauge.

The purpose of antifreeze is to 1) prevent freezing, 2) prevent corrosion, 3) lubricate the pump seals.

So....no anti-freeze is not good (worst choice);
ALL anti-freeze is ALSO not good (diminished cooling over all water);
30 to 40% is best. If it gets colder than that you have the wrong car for your locale! (you can't start it that cold anyway with the rubber-band timing belt)

I refilled mine with 30% Dex-cool and 70% distilled water with a bottle of Red-Line Water Wetter added. I choose Dex-Cool as a preference, it is good stuff IF there is no leaks or contamination. The 30% mixture was intentional, anti-freeze (the green or the red stuff) is not as effective at heat transfer than pure water (.74 to 1.0). You need the corrosion protection and the lubrication, but unless your car is exposed to -20 for a duration its too much if you use more anti-freeze. And the Cat needs all the help it can get to cool without the fans kicking in. The Red-Line is compatible with the Dex-Cool and improves the heat transfer above the level of pure water, and it also has corrosion protection and lubrication. So far the results are really good.

I have another post (My Cat Lives Again) that details all I did to my cooling system.

[bookie0116]

Originally Posted by lakesidepark

Water boils at 212 degrees F (100C)...but that's what you meant I'm sure . Anti-freeze does not raise the boiling point - the pressure of the cooling system does (that's why when you take the cap off a hot engine it boils over like a geyser). The coolant temp of the Cat runs from 200 thru 215 as normal, up to 230 before the big red light comes on. If you see that light you are already in trouble and about 7/8 on the gauge.

The purpose of antifreeze is to 1) prevent freezing, 2) prevent corrosion, 3) lubricate the pump seals.

So....no anti-freeze is not good (worst choice);
ALL anti-freeze is ALSO not good (diminished cooling over all water);
30 to 40% is best. If it gets colder than that you have the wrong car for your locale! (you can't start it that cold anyway with the rubber-band timing belt)

I refilled mine with 30% Dex-cool and 70% distilled water with a bottle of Red-Line Water Wetter added. I choose Dex-Cool as a preference, it is good stuff IF there is no leaks or contamination. The 30% mixture was intentional, anti-freeze (the green or the red stuff) is not as effective at heat transfer than pure water (.74 to 1.0). You need the corrosion protection and the lubrication, but unless your car is exposed to -20 for a duration its too much if you use more anti-freeze. And the Cat needs all the help it can get to cool without the fans kicking in. The Red-Line is compatible with the Dex-Cool and improves the heat transfer above the level of pure water, and it also has corrosion protection and lubrication. So far the results are really good.

I have another post (My Cat Lives Again) that details all I did to my cooling system.

Well this sounds really nice. I will try the red line stuff. Where do you buy it, auto zone, oreilly, where?

[Army_MP_From_MO]

My Cat was losing coolant as much as yours is and I couldn't find a leak either. I read here about the heater control valve problem and took a gamble and replaced it. Haven't had a problem since. I figure the coolant was hitting the headers and engine and evaporating. I could smell a coolant smell from time to time before I got it fixed.

[PEETYZ]

My buddy had same problem you describe most likely the heater control valve gmpartsdirect has one for 48 bucks i believe