Larry,
      I am suggesting a lower gycol level for the
summer only with perhaps some additives.
This is why I call it trivia.
              regards gary
--- Larry Alofs <lalofs@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> Water is a better coolant than most any other liquid
> because
> of its high specific heat; it absorbs a lot of heat
> energy for
> a given increase in its temperature.  Pure water
> would be the
> best coolant, but of course it provides no corrosion
> resistance and it would tend to boil at the
> temperature that
> your engine should run at for good efficiency.  When
> you mix
> in antifreeze you sacrifice some of the cooling
> ability.  This
> is why you're seeing a difference in temperature,
> not because
> of a change in circulation rate.
>   BTW that IR thermometer from Radio Shack is "a
> good thing".
>
> Larry A.
>
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 09:11:59 -0700
> >From: gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
> >Subject: coolant system trivia
> >To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >
> >I have been dealing with a conditon that I believe
> to
> >be a plugged radiator.   I have ruled out most
> other
> >cheaper fixes.   Over the past week I have isolated
> >the radiator at the point of the rear most end of
> the
> >big pipes and plugged them with corks and soaked
> the
> >isolated system with 0.2M citric acid for a week.
> >Flushing the system with hot water under house
> >pressure gave a flow rate about 6 gallons per
> second.
> >The first flush was very black and showed evidence
> of
> >bits of aluminum from what I am hoping to be some
> >after market sealer rather than the radiator
> itself.
> >After flushing the system I filled with the orange
> >stuff.   What I find intersting about the vanagon
> >coolant system is that the flow rate for water
> alone
> >is much faster than with antifreeze added.   This
> is
> >reflected well by the (temperature at idle as seen
> by
> >the gauge) TAI.
> >The TAI with water alone is much lower and at
> position
> >determined by the thermostat.   The low speed fan
> has
> >no problem keeping the engine temperature on the
> red
> >light dot even on a very hot day.   Once you add
> >antifreeze the TAI goes up above the light unless
> you
> >increase the rpm.   The TIA on a hot day(about 95)
> >will respond more slowly to the cooling affect of
> the
> >low speed fan.
> >   My question is would I be better off adding less
> >antifreeze and more water and perhaps adding some
> >after market corrosion inhibitor and water pump
> >lubricant?   thanks gary
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >__________________________________
> >Do you Yahoo!?
> >Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for
> 25�
> >http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs
http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover