KMHPaladin

... what made you buy the upper after painting it? And what paint did you use? I've seen people get good results with Plasti-Dip.

MikTip

I used an epoxy paint.

The OEM black one is solid black plastic, so no stone chips will ever appear. ;O)

KMHPaladin

Thanks... fingers crossed, I'm looking to pick up an Ultrasport.

KrazyKraut

check the coolant flange on the back of the engine - mine was slightly cracked like so many more. simple fix.
Royal has the G12, remember to get distilled water for the 50/50 dilution mix

CO AVANT

you only need enough G12 to lubricate the seals and such. Water has MUCH better cooling properties over G12. If you are afraid of air in the system you can either unscrew the reserviour and hold it in the air when you are filling, or you can open the allen head bolt on the hardline on top of the intake mani. Close it when fluid starts to pour out...

nanotech

Unless you like having your coolant boil over.

"Antifreeze" also raises the boiling point of water, so that you're not going to boil over if your coolant is 10°C warmer than optimal.

CO AVANT

If there is already coolant in the system then he is fine just adding distilled water. Once again, water has better cooling properties over antifreeze. Why the hell do you think top dragsters use just water and sometimes water wetter? If they were to run 100% coolant, they would not be very happy. All you need is enough coolant in the summer months to keep the seals lubricated. In the summer I don't even run G12. Just distilled water and a bottle of purple ice. The purple ice lubes the seals enough.

Many people think Antifreeze helps cool an engine in hot weather, but actually the more antifreeze you add the less efficient your cooling system becomes and the hotter your engine will get. The purple ice takes the tension off the water surface just like water wetter, in which case the water will not boil in the system when running normally. Just like if you were to run a 50/50 antifreeze/water mix.

I am basing this info all on pure performance. In the winter months when it's cold, I run about 25% G12 to 75% distilled water. Never had a problem with freezing even in sub zero temps...

nanotech

It can absorb more heat.

Coolant raises the temperature at which point the liquid turns to gas. Less heat is required to get to this point vs running straight water, but you never want to get to this point.

It's a safety valve. You don't usually need the overhead, but when you do, it's nice to have, since you may start hitting an overheating problem at an inconvenient place. If a race car overheats, they shut it down or rebuild the engine. I suspect you don't want to be doing that to your car

Absolutely adding a bit of distilled water is no biggie though. Just saying running straight water is not a safe thing to do.

Spinnetti

"Many people think Antifreeze helps cool an engine in hot weather, but actually the more antifreeze you add the less efficient your cooling system becomes and the hotter your engine will get."

Provided the cooling system has sufficient capacity (it does) you could still run 100% coolant because its your thermostat that regulates the system temperature, not the coolant mix. Your statement is true however if the cooling system is at maximum capacity and the thermostat is wide open all the time.

This is really a minor point, but just thought I'd share it - you are right in that water is the best for cooling.

I've found that most modern cars have lots of excess capacity.. With my last MR2, I removed all 3 cooling fans, and nearly doubled the stock HP (put a 20v vvti engine in), and the car still never got above 1/3 up the heat range, even in summer.... I have no fan on my race car either, though it will get hot if I just sit idling with it (but it doesn't get hot racing either).

diagnosticator1

value of 1.0, and a glycol/water mixture has a specific heat value <1.0 depending on the ratio of glycol/water used.
What this means basically, is that pure water can absorb the most heat energy without the bulk(mass of water) temperature of the circulating coolant increasing, compared to coolant with a specific heat value less that 1.0.<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_heat">Specific Heat Capacity:</a></li></ul>