Synthetic Coolant Anyone?

[pinholenz]

As our northern hemisphere cousins are moving into summer, and some are in extremely hot climates, I wonder if anyone has had experience of synthetic (waterless) "no boil"coolants in their engines? Liquid Intelligence 115 is available in the States, and I think there will be other brands there as well. Have a look at http://liquidintelligence115.co.uk/

[Doc Nielsen]

I gave them a call to find a seller in Europe. Price is 90€ plus postage.

Then I did a search on amazon uk.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AF8AEG2

Waterless coolants sounds brilliant. I have tried a few times to overheat my bike. I'm getting some waterless coolant for my bike sometime during the summer.

[Rikugun]

I was unaware of this technology so thanks for the links. It seems like the best thing since sliced bread with no drawbacks. Therefore I'm intrigued and of of course skeptical as well.  ???  :)  I guess I'll have to do some serious research to find the pitpalls.  For what it's worth, I found this episode of Jay Leno's Garage where the product is showcased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PykrgzWPQ

[QBS]

Rik, thank you very much for the Leno link.  Excellent teaching.

[Tiger]

 I used a product called 'Engine Ice', (Blue in colour), in the Vision a few years back. Works well... 8)

However, not something I need with the FJ ;D ;)

           8) ....... TIGER .......  8)

[pinholenz]

How about that, Evans is available in New Zealand as well as Liquid Intelligence 115. Roughly the same price. Spoilt for choice. I love the idea of being able to eliminate the overflow bottle because this stuff doesn't expand like water, and the benefits of a non corrosive coolant in our aluminium (read, "aluminum") blocks, radiators and water pumps is a no-brainer. Has anyone got any negative experiences - apart from the cost?

[jefferson]

I heard a rumor one time that Jay Leno had a Vision in his collection, but was never able to verify whether he did or not. Anyone in Cali want to stop in and find out?

Jeff

[The Prophet of Doom]

OK I'm sold - will be getting some of this.  Being able to delete the overflow bottle is a big deal when you want to run without those plastic side covers.

Love the idea of having nano particles also.

[pinholenz]

Doing a bit of maths, I think that the Liquid Intelligence 115 will be the most economic for Visionaries. It comes in 5 Litre tins and 1 Litre tins. We need 2.3 litres with an overflow bottle and 2 litres without. Therefore two Visionaries could share a 5 Litre tin with a bit left over for top-ups in case of spills.

The Evans product only comes in 1US Gallon (3.37 Litres) and 1/2 US Gallon (1.89 Litres) - too much and not quite enough for our needs.

[supervision]

 My Astro van and GMC both came with Dex-cool changed at 5 years, when I changed them the coolant looked like new, and the radiators were beautiful, so I put it my Vision.

[vintage bikeworks]

My Astro van and GMC both came with Dex-cool changed at 5 years, when I changed them the coolant looked like new, and the radiators were beautiful, so I put it my Vision.

I think the reason the your GM vehicles (and other modern vehicles) are able to quote long intervals for coolant replacement is because these systems are sealed and not exposed to atmosphere as are older vehicles and motorcycles. (Vision)   Unlike the Vision, the overflow tank is pressurized just like the radiator.  (Notice how much more substantial (thicker) overflow tanks are in modern vehicles vs older ones?) The coolant is never exposed to atmosphere and thus does not age like a "vented" system.  Changing the fluid in these older systems every couple years should net nearly the same results as the modern "sealed" systems you mentioned. 

[The Prophet of Doom]

Therefore two Visionaries could share a 5 Litre tin with a bit left over for top-ups in case of spills.

I'll go you halves in a 5litre tin

[QBS]

From what I've read, it seems that a major benefit of using the synthetic coolent would be, or is, that the cooling system is physically unstressed by pressurization.  No burst hoses , split header tanks,...or leakey heater cores.  A major benefit.

[supervision]

 Good point on the dec-cool, those vehicles have no recovery tank only pressurized air space above the coolant.

[pinholenz]

Roro, sounds great. Let me know what your time frame is and I will purchase around that, the SS pipes etc. See my PM about the other bits as well.

[sunburnedaz]

My Astro van and GMC both came with Dex-cool changed at 5 years, when I changed them the coolant looked like new, and the radiators were beautiful, so I put it my Vision.

I think the reason the your GM vehicles (and other modern vehicles) are able to quote long intervals for coolant replacement is because these systems are sealed and not exposed to atmosphere as are older vehicles and motorcycles. (Vision)   Unlike the Vision, the overflow tank is pressurized just like the radiator.  (Notice how much more substantial (thicker) overflow tanks are in modern vehicles vs older ones?) The coolant is never exposed to atmosphere and the thus does not age like a "vented" system.  Changing the fluid in these older systems every couple years should net nearly the same results as the modern "sealed" systems you mentioned.

HAHAHAHA not all of them. From 96-2000 they ran in open cooling systems like the vision. They worked ok but here is the one caveat to running Dex-Cool. Never EVER let it run low. If you let it run low and get air into the system you get this NASTY purple mud that takes forever, I mean like hours on a professional flushing machine to get it all out.

[supervision]

 the last  one I had was last gen 16 wheels 4whl disc

[js9_20]

I was unaware of this technology so thanks for the links. It seems like the best thing since sliced bread with no drawbacks. Therefore I'm intrigued and of of course skeptical as well.  ???  :)  I guess I'll have to do some serious research to find the pitpalls.  For what it's worth, I found this episode of Jay Leno's Garage where the product is showcased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PykrgzWPQ

Sounds "cool..."  hehe,  I may have to try this in my Bugatti or Dusenberg.  :)

But, seriously...  I'm sold too.  But,  Unless I'm  missing something   ... I haven't found a price for the "liquid intelligence" at all.

At least Evans has a price on their product.   But, they didn't say they have "Nano Particles" in theirs...   :(

[Jimustanguitar]

Obviously, boiling isn't *supposed* to happen under normal conditions. I'd be more interested in a product like this for its cooling capacity rather than its boiling point. I've used water wetter in the past, but something like this would be very interesting to try. Losing the overflow is an appealing idea too.

So if it doesn't boil and therefore doesn't need an overflow - does it even build up pressure? Lots of things come to mind when I think about this...
Could you open the cap when it's hot without it spraying everywhere?
Is the coolant pressure important to any of the systems on the bike?
Could it help or hurt the head gasket? (blowouts into the water jacket)
Would a weeping vision that doesn't leak when it's cool stop leaking when it's hot?
What does it do to rubber seals and o-rings?


This might be a cool experiment.

[js9_20]

Same here...

Yah, the guy on the Jay Leno video said you can open the cap and will only see a slight pressure, such as you would see opening a cola bottle...  or beer can I suppose, if you're a beer drinker :)

It only makes sense that, any leaks you'd see "only under pressure" would, at least be minimalized...
Definitely more benefit there than just overheating/not overheating.