BEFORE ANTIFREEZE COOLANT?????? (Old Timer question)
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BEFORE ANTIFREEZE COOLANT?????? (Old Timer question)
What did the Old Timers use before today's complex chemically compounded antifreeze coolant was invented, in cold climates?
A saline solution maybe????? Let me know Old Timers.
Thanks
I know, I know, just wondering.
A saline solution maybe????? Let me know Old Timers.
Thanks
I know, I know, just wondering.
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From: Carhenge
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From: Millersville, MD
I can remember my father installing a block heater in an old '37 Studebaker and also tucking a big blanket over the engine of a '48 Plymouth!
Also remember him going out to start that Plymouth and splitting the battery open in it 'cause it was 30 below Zero! This was in the 40's and I think they had Etheline glycol anti-freeze then.
Ethylene glycol solutions became available in 1926 and were marketed as "permanent antifreeze," since the higher boiling points provided advantages for summertime use as well as during cold weather.
Also remember him going out to start that Plymouth and splitting the battery open in it 'cause it was 30 below Zero! This was in the 40's and I think they had Etheline glycol anti-freeze then.
Ethylene glycol solutions became available in 1926 and were marketed as "permanent antifreeze," since the higher boiling points provided advantages for summertime use as well as during cold weather.
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From: Ponca City, OK
My dad told me how he lost his first car, a REO, due to not draining the water one winter night. These older cars had easy access radiator and engine block drain valves just for this purpose. During freezing weather they had to open these drains up every night.
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From: Minneapolis, Mn
Early antifreeze
I remember Grandpa telling of getting pure alcohol from the bootleggers during prohibition to mix in the radiator to keep them from freezing up. I assume it was mixed with water, come to think of it, he never said what it was mixed with.
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The very first anti-freeze was alchohol before the ethylene-glycol anti-freeze was common. It was necessary to drain it in the late spring and refill the cooling system with water because the boiling point was too low on the alchohol based anti-freeze for the hotter summer months. And no, I'm not that old. But my grandfather was and that's what he told me they did back then.
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I grew up in northern ill and I remember my dad putting a coffee can of burning oil under the truck to warm the engine in the morning so he could go plow on those really cold mornings. I do not miss that, was 75 degrees here yesterday but is cold today, 50's.
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Alcohol was the early anti freeze as mentioned above.
There was still some available into the 60's even, the biggest problems came from mixing the two types of anti-freeze together. Some would make a sludge which would clog the radiator, but most would make alot of foam, which would lead to more overheating.
The wino's used to drain it out of someones car, then filter it through a loaf of bread to clean it up, and remove some of the chemicals. The bigger danger was when they did it to a car with Glycol, it usually killed them.
There was still some available into the 60's even, the biggest problems came from mixing the two types of anti-freeze together. Some would make a sludge which would clog the radiator, but most would make alot of foam, which would lead to more overheating.
The wino's used to drain it out of someones car, then filter it through a loaf of bread to clean it up, and remove some of the chemicals. The bigger danger was when they did it to a car with Glycol, it usually killed them.