On Jan 24, 4:49 am, "buffalobill" wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifreeze

On Jan 23, 10:12 pm, mm wrote:



This is probably OT, but I can't find a good general car newsgroup.

What is an alternative to ethylene glycol antifreeze? Some kind of
alcohol used to be used, but I don't know what.

Anything dissolved in a solvent lowers the freezing temperature and
raises the boiling temperature. Salt sound corrosive, but how about
sugar? Would that cause any harm? My engine has iirc both steel and
aluminum parts, plus there are rubber or neoprene parts. Any other
materials likely to be used in a '95 Chrysler cooling system?

I have a leak in the radiator, and until I can get a replacement and
have weather above 40 or 45 to put it in, it's just often enough below
freezing here that I can't just keep refilling with water. But for
money and environmental reasons, I don't want keep using ethylene
glycol.

Thanks- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -




There are non-toxic alternatives made for engine cooling use, like
propylene glycol, which is available at marine supply stores. However,
they are more expensive than regular anti-freeze. As others have
suggested, I would not try some home brew idea. In addition to
preventing freezing, antifreeze must have lubricating properties for
the water pump, and additives to balance the PH and prevent corrosion.


If it's a minor leak, I'd just try to get by with regular anti-freeze.
If it's worse than that, I'd take it to a shop, if necessary.