Extreme Cold Anti-Freeze

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I will say that I have ran 50/50 of parts store brand coolant my whole life, and never had a problem. Last winter it made me consider if I was doing enough. Here in Minnesota, temps got below -30F a few times by me, and parts of the state went below -40F. I never had a problem, but I heard of numerous reports of cracked radiators, overheating, or other problems. Damaged heater cores seemed to be a big one. I am wondering if there is a coolant that is better than the rest in the cold temps. Another thing I was considering was running a mix of 60/40 to further reduce the freezing point. One thing to consider is it does get to 100 degrees often in the summer here. Am I thinking about this the right way, or should I just continue to run what I have been?
 
I have never had a problem with 50/50 mixtures yet and it has gotten so cold it has worried me before.
 
They make these dip stick like heater rods you can put in your oil or radiator iv never used one (nor plan to start) but they exist but iv always thought they where for the overly concerned type.
 
A proper 50/50 mixture of conventional green is good to - 34F.

I think you heard stories from people who had less than 50/50 in their systems. It's not hard to mess up the amount of coolant in the system, especially if a cheap shop did the flush.

That being said I would move closer to 60/40 if it's possible to hit - 40F

Antifreeze-PeakChart.jpg
 
I have heard that 55% coolant and 45% water is acceptable in some situations. I seem to remember it in automotive class, and it was from some Chrysler training video made back in the 1980s.
 
Originally Posted By: 20pss
I am wondering if there is a coolant that is better than the rest in the cold temps.


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"With minimum 50% Prestone and 50% water, provides freeze-up protection to -34F, boilover protection to +265F and the corrosion protection meets or exceeds ASTM D3306 and ASTM D4985. With maximum 70% Prestone and 30% water, provides freeze-up protection to -84F, boilover protection up to +276F and the corrosion protection meets or exceeds ASTM D3306 and ASTM D4985."
 
Originally Posted By: 20pss
Here in Minnesota, temps got below -30F a few times by me, and parts of the state went below -40F.


Isn't that wind chill?
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Originally Posted By: 20pss
Here in Minnesota, temps got below -30F a few times by me, and parts of the state went below -40F.


Isn't that wind chill?

I imagine it's ambient. I saw -32F here in Northern New York last year and in 2011.
 
Coldest air temp I experienced last winter was -38 F. And no, that is not the wind chill. This was up on on the iron range in February. Truck was garaged with the block heater, so no worries. I use name brand regular 5w20 oil all year around. Mornings like that are the exception and not the norm.

If you are concerned about it, go 60 /40 (or even 55/45). It won't hurt anything and will beef up the freeze point a bit.

If you never venture out of the Twin Cities to points north, a 50/50 mix is fine.

Most of the folks who cracked radiators etc likely didn't have a 50/50 mix to begin with.
 
Originally Posted By: 20pss
One thing to consider is it does get to 100 degrees often in the summer here.


No, it doesn't. 90s yes, but 100+ is pretty rare. Not even once a year on average.
 
I am a little farther south near brainerd, so it was a little warmer. I remember -32 F low a few days last year. Wind chills were far colder than that. I don't mess with oil weights much. In my truck, I have always ran 5w-30. It has over 225,000 miles of beating on it. My car I used 5w-20 and had no problems. If anything, I go to 10w in the summer. A proper warm up is the key. You usually cant see out your windshield for 5 minutes anyway. The thing is with that chart, is that is when the coolant is brand new. As you said, some never add coolant (technically you shouldn't have to), but I am not one. I stay on top of maintenance, and rarely have car problems. The other thing is I have heard the freezing point comes up with age. I don't like flushing my cooling system if I don't have to. I think I'll try prestone at 60/40. Thanks a lot for that chart. One thing I forgot to ask is how does the radiator cap affect the freezing point, if it does at all. My guess is it does not, and only affects the boiling point. My car has a sealed system anyway. I think my truck has a slightly higher pressure cap than standard.
 
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Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: 20pss
One thing to consider is it does get to 100 degrees often in the summer here.


No, it doesn't. 90s yes, but 100+ is pretty rare. Not even once a year on average.


I guess you are right. I guess those days just stick out in my mind because they are just so bad. Seriously, how do you southerners stand that? I couldn't even sleep.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: 20pss
Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
Originally Posted By: 20pss
One thing to consider is it does get to 100 degrees often in the summer here.


No, it doesn't. 90s yes, but 100+ is pretty rare. Not even once a year on average.


I guess you are right. I guess those days just stick out in my mind because they are just so bad. Seriously, how do you southerners stand that? I couldn't even sleep.


It's all relative I guess. On those days where we're dying of heat stroke, people from the south are probably thinking "What's the big deal?" I'm wearing shirts and a t-shirt today, where people from the south would be wearing a parka. They also probably think we're nuts for doing things like driving out on a frozen lake and staring at a hole in the ice all day, just for entertainment.
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Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
We have this thing called air conditioning.
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haha, hopefully that inventor got a special place in heaven!

Yep, it's REALLY tough down here, don't even think of moving....
 
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