Which pink Antifreeze

[lilpint]

OK, this may seem like a dumb question, but here it goes I see all different kinds of RV/Boat Antifreeze, and I am going to use -50 for Charlotte, NC. However, does brand really matter or is it all basically the same stuff just everyone makes there own. Northern tools has a great sale at $3.00 but its called Polar (i believe) now of course don't mind spending the extra money if its worth it, but is there a best brand or one anyone recommends?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chuck1]

I've used the (-50) for years and works great for me. I'm sure we get colder up here in the mountains than you do. As the brand they all seem to be the same stuff.

 

[rcknecht]

I bought pionk -50 at ACE for 2.99, and got a $1 rebate. The more expensive Pink has some rust prevention additives. I thought I might add some WD-40 to my cheap pink when I use it on my mains...

 

[Banagy]

I use the -100 just to be on the safe side.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Whatever you decide on whether or not to use an antifreeze with rust inhibitors, be sure to NOT use one that has ethyl alcohol in it. That is NOT to be used inside metal. It will cause rust. Use a product that is propylene glycol based.

 

[tbirdvet]

I have found no difference in pink between brands. All appear to work the same.

 

[rcknecht]

The cheap stuff I bought is propolyne glycol. Not sure what will happen if I pour a cup of light oil in each gal... Any ideas????

Whatever you decide on whether or not to use an antifreeze with rust inhibitors, be sure to NOT use one that has ethyl alcohol in it. That is NOT to be used inside metal. It will cause rust. Use a product that is propylene glycol based.

 

[chuck1]

Okay dumb question?
Why are you using the pink stuff in your engine? I only use the pink stuff in the water system???

 

[Lazy Daze]

The cheap stuff I bought is propolyne glycol. Not sure what will happen if I pour a cup of light oil in each gal... Any ideas????

I'm not sure, either, Rod. It's an interesting idea, I just don't know enough about how the oil would interact/react with the pink stuff. Would the oil just coagulate and fall to the bottom? Would it stay adhered to the engine walls? I just don't know. I guess if we knew what the manufacturers used as their anti-corrosion agent, that might help us figure it out.

It seems like a lot of work, though. You'd likely at least have to mix the pink and the oil in a separate container before putting it in the engine. And then the question still remains of how much oil per gallon of pink.

Regardless of whether or not this could, in reality, work effectively, I like the ideas that help us think "outside the box"... I just don't know enough about this to be of any real help.

 

[rondds]

There are many places that sell the pink stuff and oddly the places you'd expect to get the best price are a rip-off (HD, Lowes, Pep Boys). They all say RV/MARINE but if you're interested you need to get the one with rust inhibitors for inside the engines. Probably not all that important if you are FWC.

WM sells the stuff for engines (with the inhibitors). Rod, Forked River Marine sells it as well for about $1.70 less than WM and a $1 rebate (comes to around $2.29/gallon).

I went with the rust inhibitor stuff (-50 degree) but it's debatable. Maybe a topic for another thread!

 

[rcknecht]

Okay dumb question?
Why are you using the pink stuff in your engine? I only use the pink stuff in the water system???

I use the pink stuff for winterization ( -50). In the past I used pink with anti corrosion inhibutors. This year I saved $2 a gallon and bought pink with no additives. I am only using it for a closed FWC HE and exhaust system winterization. My thought is, that the more expensive Pink has a very small amount of rust inhibitors, that by adding oil to my "bucket" I may end up with a better mixture for less money....

 

[rondds]

Interestingly, Merc designed the HE's to drain when the engines are shut off. So they are basically dry inside. Not to say they shouldn't be winterized - but rust occurs more readily in the presence of oxygen (that's why they call it oxidation) and if something is filled with water there's less oxygen present then if it was empty - not to mention that I think the insides are non-ferrous anyway. So they won't rust (?) Strainers are bronze, the raw water pump housing (on my boat anyway) is plastic, the oil and tranny fluid coolers are non-ferrous, as is the heat exchanger. The only cast iron piece of that loop I can think of is the exhaust elbow - even the mufflers are fiberglass. If I'm correct, answer me this: why do we need rust inhibitors (again, assuming full factory FWC system)??

 

[Lazy Daze]

Okay dumb question?
Why are you using the pink stuff in your engine? I only use the pink stuff in the water system???

There are two types (more, but two main ones that I am aware of for our purposes). One is meant only for water systems (ethyl). The other (propylene) can be used both in the fresh water system and the engine. The ethyl stuff is the one that usually has that fresh, minty smell...:smt001

 

[lilpint]

Thanks everyone for your great responses. I bought the cheap stuff for my water system, and then found WM gives comp prices so I got the rust inhibitors for the same price.

 

[87cc]

I've been pricing the pink antifreeze & WM doesn't seem too bad. I thought that I read somewhere that the -100 has more anti-corrosive inhibitors in it.I also read somewhere that somebody was using regular automotive antifreeze and they capture it for reuse in the spring. I'm not sure how they do this.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

What good would corrosion inhibitors do when plain old fresh lake water sits in my engine all summer long without it? What am I missing? I don't even know if the stuff I bought has it. it was $3.79 gallon at the local marine store.

 

[rondds]

What good would corrosion inhibitors do when plain old fresh lake water sits in my engine all summer long without it?

See post #12 above. No one has questioned my analysis of the raw water system so it's unlikely that the rust inhibitors are all that important. I guess it's like "Certs, with Retsyn." No one knows what the flick retsyn is but since it's made out to be a big deal we all buy into the fact that it's some mystical magical scientific breakthrough that we MUST have.

Fact remains that the stuff with rust inhibitors and anti-corrosives is available and it's no more expensive so I say we all continue to buy it and behave like sheep!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Ron, I agree with your above questioning of using AF in a FWC system. I see no reason why you would put AF into it, at all - regardless of anti-corrosion or not. You're right that the HE's are supposed to be self draining. I've never winterized a 496 so I can't say from experience, but if it was my boat, I would probably feel better to push a little pink through it... just to be sure. Who knows, maybe a piece of junk partially clogged one of the tubes and therefore held some water.

In a raw water cooled system (like the OP) it is, of course, an entirely different thing. Using the corrosion inhibitors (whatever they are/are not) I would think has to be a good idea. Unless we get a chemist to tell us that it's total bunk, I'll err on the safe side, you know?

Cincy: Like Ron mentioned, you don't want your block to be empty as rust/corrosion will happen much more readily in the presence of oxygen. Yes, you are only running water through it during the summer, but you don't really have choice there. Some months with the stuff is better than 12 months without it. It's the same thing for cars - plain water actually does a better job of cooling, but one of the reasons we use AF in cars is for the corrosion inhibitors.


I just winterized a boat tonight that hadn't been run in about 1-1/2 months. It was a RWC V-6 and was only run in fresh water. When I started it up, you should've seen the pretty, orange-red colored water that came out (rust). It lasted for an honest 2 minutes until it started cleared up.

 

[rondds]

Dennis
NO WAY I would EVER trust the "self-draining" philosophy. Even in my previous boat with a 2002 FWC 350 Mag horizon (with the cute little bicycle pump to blow out the seawater) I ran pink through the raw water side. VERY cheap insurance. It's just fun to poke holes in the rationale for stuff sometimes! ;-)

 

[Lazy Daze]

It's just fun to poke holes in the rationale for stuff sometimes! ;-)

100%, absolutely, positively agree, Ron!

Not boat related (and not on the same scale), but similar in concept: When I take a piece of sliced bread out of it's plastic bag, I DO NOT use the silly little twisty tie. I just grab the opening and spin the bag a few times and then tuck it under the bread. My wife absolutely insists that I must use the twisty tie as it "keeps the bread fresher". Her brother has always said the same thing - gotta use the twisty tie. They were adamant about it!

Well, one day I finally explained my thought process to them and how using the twisty was really no better or worse. Neither said anything - but they each turned their heads and gave me one of those "sideways glances" and had that look on their face where you could tell that the gears where spinning in their heads. About a two weeks later, her brother was visiting again and he admitted that he finally agrees. Turns out it was something their parents told them when they were kids and they just grew up thinking that and never questioned it. My wife still won't admit it... at least not to me:smt001