How much coolant does the 1.9 block hold?

[Sedanman64]

Getting ready to do a flush and radiator replacement tomorrow, and see from my manual that the block drain plug is behind the exhaust manifold and probably not reachable. Anyone know how much water will be left there? Want to get my coolant mix as close to 50/50 as possible.

Thanks!
Thor

[Intuit]

Just premix it in a spare milk jug or whatever. Mix in 10% more coolant to be on the safe side. So far as I know, there isn't any particular danger in having too much coolant as opposed to having too much water.

Recommend picking up a couple of jugs of distilled water from the grocery store. Should be free of all the minerals that are normally found in tap water.

[Sedanman64]

That's my concern - there will be just water in the block after flushing. I will just add a little extra straight if I run out of the 50/50 I've already opened.

Thanks for the tip on the distilled water.

[AzTumbleweed]

I think WalMart has distilled water for under $1 a gallon. Tap water is bad news in the long run.

[Intuit]

I see. Well you could mix 70% ?

Manuals of course always give you total system capacity.

Only way I can think of to determine remaining left, is to keep all that you've initially drained, and subtract that from the capacity shown in the manual for your escort. Capacity differs depending on whether manual or automatic shift.

[Sedanman64]

I drained just under a gallon, and the manual says 6.3 qts. total capacity. So I guess I don't need to buy water if I'm putting in 2.3qts of straight to make 50/50, and the rest premixed that I already have.

[AzTumbleweed]

Yea, you might as well refill it with pure A/F. Get one of those little A/F testers at the parts place and see what your protection level is. I drained and refilled mine last year with 50/50 and my tester says I'm good to -25 degrees (F). That's good enough for anywhere that I'll live. Believe it or not pure A/F freezes at +8 degrees (F). The maximum protection is achieved at a 60% A/F 40% water mixture. Adding any more A/F to a 60/40 mixture will actually raise the freeze point.

[Intuit]

That's a head scratcher. Why is that ??? Water's freezing point (0C/32F) is higher than that of coolant isn't it ? Why would adding water to coolant, drop it's freezing point ? Melting point listed for Ethylene Glycol (a chief component) is listed at -13C.

[AzTumbleweed]

I have no idea why it does this. You would think pure antifreeze would be the way to go. I couldn't find it again but I was reading an article from Prestone. They said their biggest complaint is people calling in the winter saying there pure antifreeze solution had froze in their radiators.

[Intuit]

Tip is appreciated ATW. That's certainly news to me.

Check this very good FAQ:
http://www.maxsafeantifreeze.com/FAQs.php

[AzTumbleweed]

Good article. It says A/F freezes at 13 degrees (F) so my info may be wrong (about the 8 degrees). Anyway, this is 'wierd science!

"Antifreeze contains chemicals that protect your engine against rust and corrosion, as well as freeze-up and boil over protection. Water is required to activate the chemicals in the inhibitor package. Furthermore, adding water (up to a certain point) to antifreeze actually lowers the freeze-up and heightens the boil over protection provided. A mix of 40% antifreeze and 60% water provides freeze-up protection down to -10°F and boil over protection up to 259°F. In comparison, a mix of 70% antifreeze and 30% water provides freeze-up protection down to -62°F and boil over protection up to 270°F. However, we do not recommend adding more than 70% antifreeze. Over 70% would limit the corrosion and freeze up protection and heat transfer capabilities of the antifreeze. Pure antifreeze freezes at -13°."

[Intuit]

Negative 13 Fahrenheit. Incidently that's the melting point for Ethylene Glycol.

Info was a little imprecise, but not wrong. General inferences were still quite correct and are still better for it. Imprecise is better than wrong, but wrong is worse than nothing.

[Sedanman64]

Well, either way I'm glad I got extra A/F - see other thread for details.