Non-slippery non-glycol anti-freeze? | FerrariChat

Non-slippery non-glycol anti-freeze?

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by Brian C. Stradale, May 2, 2004.

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  1. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Mar 17, 2002
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    Dallas, TX, USA
    Many tracks disallow radiators to have glycol-based anti-freeze in them. (Because if they spew on the track, they are extremely slick and a major pain to clean up.)

    However, since I can go to track year-round, I'd rather not have straight water in there... anti-freeze down to at least 0'F would be good.

    Soooo, are there any non-glycol anti-freeze options?
    Or should I just plan to swap fluids twice a year?
     
  2. maranelloman

    maranelloman Guest

    Brian...how will they know what you have in there? No track that I am aware of does an antifreeze test...
     
  3. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Purportedly you won't pass tech at the FCA meet in Monterey if you have glycol in there. Its easy enough to test for... the testers are cheap even, I believe.
     
  4. maranelloman

    maranelloman Guest

    Really? Even for modern cars that have a propensity to boil over about as large as, oh I dunno, 1 in 500,000,000??? Are they informing folks about this, or are they just gonna reject 99% of the cars that show up for tech?
     
  5. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Mar 17, 2002
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    Its on the website... http://www.fca2004.com/FAQ.html#track ... they say they'll be setup to drain your anti-freeze at the track.
     
  6. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    Nov 1, 2003
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    Haven't used it myself, but have exchanged some e-mails with their engineers concerning use in my P-car 928 and it sounds interesting.

    http://www.evanscooling.com
     
  7. maranelloman

    maranelloman Guest


    Dang. That's harsh.

    I guess I don't really regret not going now!

    ;-)
     
  8. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    But that is still glycol-based... and thus slippery.

    Or did I miss that they also offer a non-glycol solution?
     
  9. beast

    beast F1 World Champ

    May 31, 2003
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    For the local motorcycle track days the riders here cannot run Ethlyne glycol based coolants. The only thing they can run is Water with Water Wetter additive or Propleyne Glycol Based coolants (Evans)

    I know several rideres that use Evans with good luck the only thing i dont care for is the fact that it can be Explosive if it leaks in a mist and hits Exhause headers and such.
     
  10. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Oohhh, great! So, if I get too hot and get a spray from the coolant overflow (which runs right over exhaust parts), then my engine explodes.

    Okay, it looks like I'll be swapping radiator fluid every 6 months.
     
  11. Hubert

    Hubert F1 Rookie

    Jan 3, 2002
    2,642
    The Left Coast


    Water wetter. Read about it here.
    Some of my friends use it in their race/track cars. They all run multi core Aluminum race radiators. So far, so good. However, youll want to flush it more often than glycol based coolant; as in, every 15k miles or sooner.
    PS: What's the deal with the FCA and their rules? It's almost as if they don't want people to avidly track their cars.
     
  12. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Yeah, I use Water Wetter with my anti-freeze for the heat transfer properties. However that link had one very interesting quote:

    Yikes! And Ferraris have very strong AC units! Is this an issue? Does the 360 blow the cooled air through the heater such that it could freeze the coolant??


    I think its common for vintage racing organizations... the old cars have a propensity to blow hoses... and they don't want people to lose track sessions due to a 30 minute cleanup or two.
     
  13. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
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    Note that Propylene Glycol is actually even more slippery than Ethylene Glycol. So, why do they have that rule? Is PG easier to clean up than EG? Or they just want to see some bikes burst into flame more often?
     
  14. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    I don't see how they could possibly do this. When I go to the track, I have often had the urge to check to water level. However, even after 1.5 hours of cooling off from the drive to TWS, there is still enough pressure in the overflow tank to prevent you from opening the lid without <ahem> causing a great big mess.
     
  15. beast

    beast F1 World Champ

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    I think it has to deal with clean up. The fact that PG is not diluted with water versus EG with water is what makes it an coolant that can be cleaned up in a much more efficent process.

    Also PG cooling systems are run with zero pressure while EG we run high pressure caps to increase the boiling point. In a crash a pressurised system is more likely to dump more coolant than an unpressurised system.
     

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