DLS

I´m thinking of trying evans cooling NPG+ to avoid steam pockets.
How many are using it and did you change to it because of steam pockets or something else?

George D

I am. I changed because I had some head lifting with my 3.1 motor. We think it was more of a tuning issue, but changed to Evans just in case we were having some steam pockets. The head lifting ruined a cometic gasket. We also went back to a stock gasket. Car is now running well, and being tuned.

gruhsy

I am using the Evans in my 3.0L. Did it because it's much better at cooling and no corrosion issues, plus the engine is new as you can see in my build thread.

When I dropped my 2.5 the thing was full of corosion. Previous owner was an idiot and used tap water.

Jason

Scott H

I am fearing the worst with mine right now. The stuff that I got out of the engine just flushing it a year ago when I got the car was friggin gross. I'm crossing my fingers and praying it's fine, ripping apart the entire short block is/was not in my plans on this round of maintenance/upgrades.

ninefiveone

Switched to Evans with a fresh built 3.0L. Cooling well.

Willard Bridgham 3

Actually, no glycol is a better coolant than water, including Evans.

gruhsy

My operating temps are now right where they are supposed to be. Engine stays at 190F in heavy traffic and about 160F on the highway. I have the wizard oil rad combo. Pics are in my build post.

As Chris White pointed out don't spill any you will never get rid of the smell..........He is right......I spilled a little bit filling and had one leak on the coolant neck on the intake.....It stinks...oh well I'm not taking it apart again to clean it

Jason

ninefiveone

rennlist server hiccup?

Thom

OT :
Not sure I understand how standard coolant would cause corrosion if it's replaced regularly and the engine run regularly?
A friend did 30k miles in 2 years on his 2.5 engine (brand new bottom end from Porsche), stripped it down (bent rod) and there was no trace of corrosion. FWIW the coolant used has been the VAG approved pink one.

User 41221

I am very interested in this as well. If I am understanding it properly, Evans NPG+ doesn't need to be pressurized like typical coolant in our cars, right? Also, without water in teh system, the concerns about corrosion should be reduced. It honestly sounds to goo to be true.

I am going to pick up some today (I have already gotten in touch with the distributor) and am going to see how it works in some of my cars. At $39/gal, its certainly not cheap, but neither is doing head gasket jobs.

For those of you who have done this already, did you swap out teh radioator cap to a non pressurized one? I am assuming you would still bleed the system to get as much air out and coolant in as possible, but aside from that, any other tips or suggestions?

User 41221

Changing coolant isn't an issue for me (altho for a bunch of people, its seems to be), I am pretty religious about fluid changes on my vehicles. The low pressure aspect appeals to me, far fewer leaks, less wear and tear on your engine and eliminating hot spots (steam pockets) are all valid concerns.

I can't imagine not changing this on at least a five year interval, even if it is rated for "lifetime" use. How are you planning on doing a water pump without losing a bit of coolant? Switching to Evans won't magically cure the water pump impeller failure risk to the timing belt.

ninefiveone

"better" or "best" coolant really depends on what you're looking for. I went with NPG+ (at Chris White's suggestion) because:

- NPG+ has worked great for me at idle on 90+ humid day with the AC as well as under hard running (so far). Again, I don't disagree water has better heat transfer but this may be a case where our required usage doesn't match the performance envelope of water. The better heat transfer of water isn't providing a benefit over NPG+ under most conditions, and it's significantly worse at +210F. Meanwhile NPG+ works as well as water under the same conditions, and significantly better over 210F.
- Working at those peak conditions means elimination of the steam pocket issues, etc.
- Lack of corrosion doesn't matter if you're going to change fluids regularly but since it's supposedly good for lifetime, eliminating risk of corrosion is necessary
- Lack of pressure means lower stress on cooling components, especially hoses. You only need a cap on the reservoir to keep it from spilling out. No pressure at all. No need to change the coolant cap.

Downsides:
- It's expensive. I might be inclined to change it out in 5 years because it would satisfy my vague OCD but that will not be cheap
- Super slippery. If anything does fail on track...no one is going to like you for slicking up the track so badly, and it may contribute to a worse off track excursion as well
- The stuff never evaporates so if you spill any in an engine valley... you will smell coolant forever until you get enough water on the motor to rinse it off.

User 41221

The lack of pressure should also allow our aging radiators to last a heck of a lot longer. The main failure on the radiator is the transition between the plastic tanks and the aluminum core, which gives way as it ages due to the pressure its under.

ninefiveone

Good point. We went with the wizard alum combo radiator/oil cooler with the new motor so I had forgotten that.

I do know that I'm planning on making the switch on my BMW for just that reason. Amazing amount of brittle plastic in BMW cooling systems and pressure eventually causes failure in the overflow tank, the radiator, the list goes on...

67King

Best coolant in the world is distilled water and water wetter. From what I understand of Evans, it makes your engine run hotter. That will make it slightly more detonation prone. It does not cool as well because, as I understand, you eliminate localized boiling. You absolutely want to have localized boiling in the heads - as pointed out earlier, the heat of vaporization is orders of magnitude higher than than heat capacity within a range of a few degrees. And temperatures in the water jacket in the areas around the exhaust valves easily exceed 400 degrees F driving on the street - I can only imagine what it will do on a track. What you have to watch out for is the surface tension of water, which can cause the bubbles that form with localized boiling to stick to the surface, rather than flush away allowing fresh water in to boil.