Well for one thing how cold does it get where you are? if you get down to zero or below, the only pre-mixed AF I'd use is the -100 but it is expensive, for the good stuff with corrosion inhibitors. I used to use the West Marine pre mix -100 (this is burst temp of a copper pipe rating, not freeze temp), this will remain liquid all the way down to -45-->-50 degrees F. But its like 12-14 bucks a gallon. What I started doing a few years ago, was to buy the Sierra brand Propylene Glycol coolant (non tox) in gallon jugs and mix it 50/50 with water. This gives you freeze protection down to -26*F which is more than adequate for where I am. This stuff is $14 a gallon, but when mixed 50/50 that drops your gallon cost down to $7.00 which is more than the cheap stuff, but much cheaper than the -100. The Sierra stuff can be bought online, some auto parts stores and here in NY at Ace Hardware. But remember, for freeze protection, you really just have to thoroughly drain, adding the AF is really to reduce corrosion in storage. Kind of like spraying your trailer leaf springs with Corrosion X (which I also do 2x a year). I am in salt water so we have to be ahead of the game on corrosion.
How cold is your coldest expected temp? If really cold the only choice is the -100 stuff as expensive as it is. With the Sierra you can mix it at a stronger concentration of AF to water, but then have to carefully measure the freeze protection, to make sure it is adequate.
Those suck the AF up the drive kits, are really risky. Many people have lost an engine using them because they do not understand how raw water cooling works. When you start the engine with the tank hooked up, until the stat opens, all the AF just fills the exhaust system and goes out the exhaust, unless you drained the block first. If the stat does not open, or only opens partly, the block/heads will still have raw water in it which will mix with the AF coming in but that dilutes the AF and then you get a frozen block/head/intake manifold.
They only work on engines with closed cooling. Not raw water cooling!
On any re-power with an inboard engine, I would never install a new or re-man engine and leave it raw water cooled. It is a lousy way of cooling an engine, not how GM designed it, its just cheaper/simpler is the only advantage. Closed cooling keeps your internal cooling passages free of corrosion, avoids localized overheating in the hottest parts of the engine (cyl heads right behind the exhaust valve seats) due to pressurized cooling (remember water boils at 212, but if your temp gauge gets to 200, its already boiling in that part of the engine), because the temp sending unit reads temp at the intake manifold not in the heads at the hottest part. And you can drain closed cooling faster because you just drain the heat exchanger, and raw water intake hose, (manifolds also if a half closed system) and don't have to crawl around in the bilge to get at those block drains. Just my opinion after 15+ years of I/O maintenance.
_________________ 88 Four Winns 200 Horizon 4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl 2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5 2008 Walker Bay 8
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II
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