What's the optimum coolant to use...
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What's the optimum coolant to use...
Hello all, Just want to protect my LS1 the best I can. For those of you who know, what is the best coolant to use in the summer months. I am a spirited driver if that matters what kind of coolant to use. I appreciate your input.
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Originally Posted by Mod Maniac
Hello all, Just want to protect my LS1 the best I can. For those of you who know, what is the best coolant to use in the summer months. I am a spirited driver if that matters what kind of coolant to use. I appreciate your input.
GM or Texaco Havolin.
Bob
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aren't you supposed to change the coolant at least once a year? they say 100k on the plugs too, but that can't be good.
i like to go 70% water and 30% coolant in the summer with 1-2 bottles of Water Wetter.
i like to go 70% water and 30% coolant in the summer with 1-2 bottles of Water Wetter.
#7
Originally Posted by skunk50
aren't you supposed to change the coolant at least once a year? they say 100k on the plugs too, but that can't be good.
i like to go 70% water and 30% coolant in the summer with 1-2 bottles of Water Wetter.
i like to go 70% water and 30% coolant in the summer with 1-2 bottles of Water Wetter.
Last edited by 98Z-6Speed; 04-27-2004 at 02:59 PM. Reason: spelling
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Living in oklahoma it can get very hot, so coolant is put to the test. I changed my coolant at 23K with a new GM cap. I have got 42K now and will change it at 45k. We do coolant changes everyday and I have to say GM vehicles that have dexcool seem to corrode after about 40K. We see dried dexcool on the under side of the radiator cap all the time, so after seeing that so much I probably change mine more than others.(cap too)But you can shine a flashlight down the inside of my radiator and see all the way to the bottom. just my .02
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If you do stick with the Dexcool (which IMO you should) then DO NOT wait the recommended 100k miles to do your flushes. The Internet is littered with Dexcool horror stories, which IMO are attributable to three main causes:
1) Improper maintenance (e.g. following the factory recommended intervals)
2) Mixing of green coolant with Dexcool
3) Use of "poor" quality water causing corrosion
I use a 50/50 mix of Dexcool and drinking water (I buy the water in gallon containers at the grocery store) along with a bottle of WaterWetter. From some of the testing I've seen, the ideal mix would be straight water and a couple bottles of WaterWetter, but that's really only feasible in warm weather climates. Flush your coolant every 2 years max, make sure it stays at the full level, and make sure you have a good quality radiator cap that seals well. I'd recommend replacing the factory radiator cap with a Standt or other quality cap. I also replace my thermostat every other time I flush, but that's probably just being ****.
1) Improper maintenance (e.g. following the factory recommended intervals)
2) Mixing of green coolant with Dexcool
3) Use of "poor" quality water causing corrosion
I use a 50/50 mix of Dexcool and drinking water (I buy the water in gallon containers at the grocery store) along with a bottle of WaterWetter. From some of the testing I've seen, the ideal mix would be straight water and a couple bottles of WaterWetter, but that's really only feasible in warm weather climates. Flush your coolant every 2 years max, make sure it stays at the full level, and make sure you have a good quality radiator cap that seals well. I'd recommend replacing the factory radiator cap with a Standt or other quality cap. I also replace my thermostat every other time I flush, but that's probably just being ****.
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Originally Posted by Mod Maniac
Hello all, Just want to protect my LS1 the best I can. For those of you who know, what is the best coolant to use in the summer months. I am a spirited driver if that matters what kind of coolant to use. I appreciate your input.
Evans NPG
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I always use distilled water when mixing coolant/antifreeze with water for the cooling system on all my vehicles. It is between 50 cents and $1.00 per gallon.
I also use distilled water when "flushing" the system. By "flushing" I mean draining the old coolant/antifreeze, refilling with distilled water, driving 15 minutes to circulate it around, draining, doing it again 2 more times, then refilling half the capacity of the cooling system with coolant/antifreeze and topping off with distilled water. This calls for about 6 to 8 gallons of distilled water.
Yes, Redline WaterWetter is good stuff. It does work. Every year I add it to the cooling system in my 1993 Saturn SL2 in April, then in October I flush the system with distilled water and refill using green antifreeze and - you guessed it - more distilled water.
I also use distilled water when "flushing" the system. By "flushing" I mean draining the old coolant/antifreeze, refilling with distilled water, driving 15 minutes to circulate it around, draining, doing it again 2 more times, then refilling half the capacity of the cooling system with coolant/antifreeze and topping off with distilled water. This calls for about 6 to 8 gallons of distilled water.
Yes, Redline WaterWetter is good stuff. It does work. Every year I add it to the cooling system in my 1993 Saturn SL2 in April, then in October I flush the system with distilled water and refill using green antifreeze and - you guessed it - more distilled water.
#12
Originally Posted by David 2002 WS6
I always use distilled water when mixing coolant/antifreeze with water for the cooling system on all my vehicles. It is between 50 cents and $1.00 per gallon.
I also use distilled water when "flushing" the system. By "flushing" I mean draining the old coolant/antifreeze, refilling with distilled water, driving 15 minutes to circulate it around, draining, doing it again 2 more times, then refilling half the capacity of the cooling system with coolant/antifreeze and topping off with distilled water. This calls for about 6 to 8 gallons of distilled water.
Yes, Redline WaterWetter is good stuff. It does work. Every year I add it to the cooling system in my 1993 Saturn SL2 in April, then in October I flush the system with distilled water and refill using green antifreeze and - you guessed it - more distilled water.
I also use distilled water when "flushing" the system. By "flushing" I mean draining the old coolant/antifreeze, refilling with distilled water, driving 15 minutes to circulate it around, draining, doing it again 2 more times, then refilling half the capacity of the cooling system with coolant/antifreeze and topping off with distilled water. This calls for about 6 to 8 gallons of distilled water.
Yes, Redline WaterWetter is good stuff. It does work. Every year I add it to the cooling system in my 1993 Saturn SL2 in April, then in October I flush the system with distilled water and refill using green antifreeze and - you guessed it - more distilled water.
He is absolutely right about the 'distilled water' being the right stuff.
There is an awful lot of 'crap' in regular old tap water and you really don't want this floating around in your engine/radiator.
If you are like me and too cheap to go buy distilled water, try and use a really good water filter to get out all of the 'extras' in there. A really 'good' filter will remove about 99% of the crap that the water co. puts in there to make the water 'safe' to drink...