What does it mean if there's oil in my radiator?
Means you have a leak between the oil system and the cooling system. Probably means you also have coolant antifreeze in your oil... check the dipstick for water contamination. That's a worse problem.This is bad and is a sign that the walls between the coolant and lubrication system have corroded through (from depleted coolant - too old) or your engine block is cracked from freezing or severe overheating. Both oil and coolant travel through passageways in the block and the walls between them can be thin. Another possibility is a head gasket failure.This is not a totally uncommon ocurrence I have heard, and to fix Head gasket is not too bad but the corrosion or cracked block will likely be expensive. Continuing to drive this way will eventually destroy the engine totally (it's not that far from there now, even though it may be running). The watery oil will foam and be ineffective. the metal parts will rust and eventually the engine will seize as the hole gets bigger and the leak worse.
What if I only use concentrated anti freeze/coolant in my car's radiator?
To start, Pure water, as you may know, has a boiling point of 212°F (100°C) and a freezing point of 32°F (0°C). However, when you create a 50/50 mixture using water and ethylene glycol, the boiling point rises to 223°F (106°C) and the freezing point lowers to -35°F (-37°C). When you take it one step further, creating a 30/70 mixture of water and ethylene glycol, the boiling point rises to 235°F (113°C) and the freezing point lowers to -67°F (-55°C).You might presume that the freezing point of ethylene glycol, the main ingredient in most automotive coolants, is very low, and that a system filled with only anti-freeze would be the ideal choice for cold winters in places like Alaska and North dakota and Canada. In reality, it is only -13C (8F). That’s not very cold! If you were to only use coolant in a cold climate, the possibility of it freezing is very possible (although it’s not water and would not expand as such, so damage to the engine block and cooling system would not be a worry). The key is the mixture of coolant and water. When done in the proper proportions, the freezing point gets much lower.From that you can see that the ideal mixture for extreme cold weather is about 65% anti-freeze and 35% distilled water. Now, unless you live in a very cold climate, you might be concerned with what happens when the coolant is hot. Anti-freeze alone has a pretty high boiling point of 197C (387F), which is much higher than you would see in an automotive cooling system. Water, of course, boils at 100C (212F). When mixed. we end up somewhere in the middle:As far as carrying heat goes, water does a really good job. It’s actually one of the most effective coolants that could possibly be used. The specific heat capacity of ethylene glycol is only about 65% of water at the temperatures seen in a cooling system. That means that to cool the engine by one degree, you would need about 50% more of it than straight water. So even though you could use pure antifreeze as a coolant, or any other liquid for that matter, you would need a bigger radiator and more robust cooling system compared to one that used straight water. Here is what happens to heat capacity as our coolant mixture changes:So as you can see, using 100% coolant isn’t harmful but it’s not optimal.
Can you use straight coolant in a car radiator without water.?
50/50 is best.and let me tell you...pure antifreeze WILL freeze.its also flammable.
What would make my 'radiator overflow' tank spew hot water?
What would make my radiator overflow discharge all of a sudden? I have a '95 lancer el(carburetor type), drove 5 miles to shop this morning. When I pulled in the parking, hot water spewed out of the overflow tank (hot steam smoke that freaked me out). The car was not running hot according to the temp guage and after cooling down, the radiator was empty, the overflow tank was full. If it was the thermostat, I would assume the car would run hot. I have not added fluid to the overflow tank recently either. Any suggestions? thanks
Can water alone (in the radiator) keep a car engine cool?
In a modern, closed cooling system, no.Water alone boils at 100 degrees Celsius; much lower than the designed operating temperature of a combustion engine. The water will turn into steam and pressurize the cooling system beyond its designed capacity (around 14–20 psi) leading to boil over and overheating of the engine leading to catastrophic engine failure. Radiator fluid is designed to raise that boiling point much higher. Also, water alone freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and will expand as it turns to ice when not in use in cold temperatures leading to cooling system components and even the engine block to crack and rendered inoperable.Radiator fluid is also designed to resist freezing And contains lubricants and anti corrosion qualities to prevent rust on the inside components of your engine.In emergency situations, water alone can be used for very short periods if it is allowed to vent steam, topped up often and the engine operating temperature is kept low.
What happens when you accidentally poor radiator stop leak into your engine oil?
The following may sound like excessive steps but if I owned your car right now, this is what I would do. Do not start the engine. Push or tow the cat to a level surface. Remove the oil filter and drain the oil. If the oil fill hole was on a valve cover remove it and carefully dip, dob and scrape as much of the stop leak up as possible. Clean the inside top of the valve cover. If you can see any stop leak that you can't remove by hand, carefully pour a gallon of WD-40 on the valve train to flush what ever is left down and out of the oil pan. Put the valve cover back on. Stick a large plastic funnel with a large opening in the oil fill hole. Flush the oil fill hole with a second gallon of liquid WD-40. Pour the WD-40 as fast as the large funnel will allow. Let the pan drain for least one hour. If your oil filter location is straight up and down or 45 degrees, fill the oil filter with the manufacturers recommended viscosity motor oil and put it on the motor. Fill the motor with the recommended amount and viscosity of motor oil. *Start the car and let it idle *without driving till the temperature gage reaches maximum temperature. Let the engine idle 15 minutes. Stop the engine and drain the oil and change the filter again. Fill the filter with the recommended motor oil and screw it on the motor. Fill the the engine with oil and drive the car no more than 1000 miles. Change the oil again and then cross your fingers and return to the manufacturers recommended oil change schedule. As I said in the beginning I would take every step known to man to save the motor short of completely tearing it apart.
Can I mix coolant with water for 5 days in a row until I replace my radiator?
What that means is that it is pre-mixed at a 50-50 coolant / water ratio. You can mix it with water but it's boil over protection will be less. Not to worry. Just keep an eye on the temperature gauge and never let it overheat. Add water or the pre-mix as needed. No worries. The only damage you'll do is by letting it over heat. Put whatever you have in it for now.
What happens to an engine if you put in straight coolant/antifreeze without mixing 50/50 w/water?
nothing but antifreeze will make the car run hot
Can I just add engine coolant/anti-freeze to the radiator? Do I need water?
It depends on exactly what kind of coolant you bought. Some (the cheapest ones) are already mixed with water - 50%. You can just dump these in. Adding straight antifreeze won't hurt anything. No. You do not need to drain anything. Also, and this important. There is more then one kind of antifreeze. Back in the old days there was one kind. It was green. It is still used but there is red and orange now and I think they may have come out with a couple more. Different makes of vehicles are designed for certain types of antifreeze. Using the wrong one can damage the cooling system over time. And you also need to find out where your coolant is going - if it is a leak or you have a blown gasket and it is going into a combustion chamber.