LagondaNet

[AML2008]

Hello!

recently I heard about a waterless coolant.

http://www.evanscooling.com/

Since overheating seems to be a problem with Lagondas I thought that someone might have converted the system already. Does anybody have experience with the waterless coolant?

/ M

[Vincent]

Maybe it works, but the overheating problems with the Lagondas are caused by the following :

1. Dirty radiator ( the first thing to check )
2. Fans problems ( many cars have now 'shunted' fans which are working continually )
3. Broken waterpump.

The engine block has no structural overheating problem in itself...
_________________
Welcome to Paradise ! (FRONT 242)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS30BC3D5WM

[david]

Vincent is right, the problems of over heating will not be resolved with waterless coolant.

The advantage with such liquids are the reduction - or elimination- of corrosion within engines as no oxygen is present in systems so filled and as they will not boil at the temperatures created in an engine, no vapours will be present, that in themselves can cause damage from cavitation and by inducing corrosion.

I don't know for sure but seem to recall reading that the thermal conductivity (or however the ability to remove heat from a cylinder block is measured) is not so good as with a water and antifreeze solution - that is not to say it is in any way deficient but is another reason why, in itself, it will not "cure" an over heating engine.

The Lagonda system does not seem to suffer particularly from internal corrosion or build up of silt deposits - unlike the Jaguar XK engine for the latter and, just to take one of many examples, the pre war Rolls Royce thin wall cast iron cylinder heads that have been ravaged by corrosion.

Over heating for a Lagonda is, as Vincent says, more to do with wear and tear of the system rather than a design flaw.

A new radiator (well, re core the original with a high efficiency "tropical" core), new thermostat, and a pair of later six bladed fans (for those that have the early four blade units), will work wonders - assuming the engine is set up correctly for ignition and fuel.

We have also fitted to 580 series engines the later larger bore water pump as fitted to the EFI 585 series engines, it is much better, but requires one of the timing case bolt holes to be counter sunk to accept a flush fit Allen headed bolt as the outlet from the pump fouls the original bolt.

We do tend to enable the fans to operate constantly or, at the very least, come in with the A/C compressor regardless of refrigerant pressure.

With this set up on 13380 , myself and Robert had a wonderful 2.5 hours or so stuck in Antwerp traffic coming back from the Netherlands LagondaV8 on what was about the hottest day of the year (pity the A/C didn't work then........) and the car performed faultlessly.

The other problem with the waterless coolant is that you can't add water so, if you spring a leak, what do you do?

I think it is ideal for low pressure cooling systems on older cast iron engine vehicles but a well maintained aluminium engine with 50/50 water and antifreeze solution, changed every three years or so is fine and will (or should not) present a problem.

If an engine is already corroded internally, waterless coolant will not rectify this.

It is a very complex subject (Google it and prepare to be confused) and there are arguments both for and against, the latter really more in terms of practicality and cost but, in the real world, when a hose has blown, in the middle of nowhere finding water will usually be easier than finding more waterless coolant unless you carry a stock of extremely expensive liquid in the car.

I stand here ready to be shot down in flames over this as I guess Jonathan will have done much more (and better) research than me........................

David

[Vrije]

Only problem I ever had with lagonda cooling.

The hose to the overflow tank not 100% but only apearing when cooling down so it did not suck fluid back to the engine, which meant placing more water in it every time, hence over heating afterwards.

After installing new hose and putting the pressurecap on the overflow tank and the shut cap on top of engine NO problem what so ever.

PS 007 does not need this but has been done anyway,, Beware, toptank on engines are not exact copies,,059 will boil even with factory new cap.due to inperfect fitting!

Harry

[david]

I've had an interesting conversation with someone that knows more than me about this:

The waterless coolant does not boil until 180C, so there is next to no expansion of the coolant at 80 - 100 degrees C.

Therefore the loading on the hoses is very much reduced as they do not need to cope with around 15PSI system pressure.

Whilst these coolants have a reduced thermal efficiency, because there is no localised boiling of the coolant within a system, unlike standard antifreeze, the overall efficiency may be improved.

I also realise that I was a bit ambiguous when I said you can't add water, I really meant that if you add water (which is OK to do from a mechanical aspect), it will of course render the waterless coolant ineffective, from the advantages listed above.

If changing to waterless coolant, the cooling system must be dried out so that less than 2% water is present.

I said it was complex....................

David