What Ratio Do You Mix Your Antifreeze?

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50/50 unless it's an oddball make with a very specific coolant spec and ratio. When I can get Napa extended life green for $10-12 a gallon it's a rediculous waste of money to buy premix.
 
Originally Posted By: oldhp
I always buy 2 gallons of antifreeze if doing anything coolant to my cars. 1 gal pure antifreeze into car/truck. Split the other gallon into empty antifreeze jug with distilled water making 2 gallons 50/50 mix. Top off radiator. -30° to -45° all the time. I then mark the remaining jug "50/50".


This is almost exactly how I do it, as has worked the best over the years.
 
I used to mix it at about 68% antifreeze, 32% distilled water to get the maximum protection, both from freezing/boil over, plus I figure antifreeze has better corrosion protection than water, therefore heavier amount of antifreeze should protect against corrosion better.

I no longer do this, and will never do it unless the manual specifies it for the conditions I encounter. Why? Because antifreeze is not nearly as good at heat transfer as water. On a couple of vehicles I had, a 1979 Datsun, and a 1985 S10 Blazer, actually ran noticeably hotter, judging from the vehicle's own temperature gauge, on a 68% solution. Draining, flushing with water, and replacing with 50% solution actually showed lower temps on the temperature gauge.

In today's vehicles, with all the sensors on the engine, etc., I believe it is much more important to have the engine run with the proper mixture of antifreeze and water, which in all vehicles I have had, in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, is a 50/50 mix. This is what I use.
 
Mine uses G-05. The pure stuff is $20 a gallon, but it's $17 for the 50/50 premix. So you're basically paying an extra $7 for distilled water when it's under $1 at the store. I haven't really flushed mine, factory calls for 15 years/150k. Had to drain some out when changing the thermostat. Then I just topped up with a 50/50 mix.
 
50/50 Distilled water. I’m not too sure what type of water goes into the premixed formulations. Tap water is a big no no. There are too many dissolved minerals in tap water and it will clog your radiator over time. DO NOT mix different types of antifreeze.
 
After a flush with distilled water I fill with a gallon of 70/30 then top off with 50/50. My Accent motor holds a lot of coolant unless you pull some of the hoses off.
 
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