Rad fluid and thermostat

[panda24619]

okay. move this if not in right place.

so im having cooling issues and i think ive narrowed it down to the coolant and thermostat. 165k+ will do that to the thermostat.

the collant has been changed before but might as well do it again since its a little brown.
i know how to change the fluid but got a few questions. im doing 50/50 coolant/antifreeze. SD can get cold in the mountains and hot in the desert.

how much 50/50 would you recommend and how much water?
and where can i take the old fluid? are there places i can drop it off?

as for the thermostat how hard is it to change. i figured i might as well change it while i have the fluid drained so less mess. is there any tips and tricks to watch out for?

 

[toms89]

Little confused by the question. 50/50 premix already has water in it. If you go straight antifreeze you mix it 50/50 with water and use distilled water for best corrosion resistance. It removes all of the minerals from the water which could add to the corrosion/rust.

Locally the recycling part of our landfill has containers for oil and antifreeze.

 

[rburch]

You should be able to take it to any auto parts store.

 

[KWT2000]

just use the 50/50 if you have it already which is 50% water and 50% antifreeze... so don't any water to it you will lower your freeze and boil point don't wanna do that

if you have the concentrate them make 50/50 by adding water

 

[panda24619]

o yeah nvm. i was gonna buy the coolant/antifreeze mix and then add some water to it since i have a few gallons of distilled water. should i just buy the 50/50 or the cool/anti and add water to it? sorry i knew what i ment. haha

 

[toms89]

Coolant and antifreeze are the same thing it protects against both. 50/50 mix you find in the stores has water already added you use it straight and add no water. With concentrated antifreeze (not 50/50) you add distilled water to it. I found it cheaper to use concentrated antifreeze and distilled water and mixed it 50/50.

 

[Thermo]

Panda, just for your info, based on your situation, I would say to run around a 60/40 mix of coolant and water. This will give you slightly better cold weather and hot weather characteristics. If you look on the side of the concentrate coolant bottle, it will have a little chart on it showing you the relative characteristics of the coolant with various mixes. 50/50 is easy to remember, going much more than 60/40 will not gain you anything (if anything, tends to allow the coolant to freeze at a warmer temp and will boil earlier) and going towards a 40/60 mix will also result in the coolant being able to freeze solid at a warmer temp and boil at a lower temp.

 

[panda24619]

Panda, just for your info, based on your situation, I would say to run around a 60/40 mix of coolant and water. This will give you slightly better cold weather and hot weather characteristics. If you look on the side of the concentrate coolant bottle, it will have a little chart on it showing you the relative characteristics of the coolant with various mixes. 50/50 is easy to remember, going much more than 60/40 will not gain you anything (if anything, tends to allow the coolant to freeze at a warmer temp and will boil earlier) and going towards a 40/60 mix will also result in the coolant being able to freeze solid at a warmer temp and boil at a lower temp.

all right. so just mix it my self. but use a 60/40 mix. all right. i need to get this done. now i need to figure out if i should just drain the rad or if i should do the engine block drain plug. my old auto shop teach told me not to do the engine block plug cause it usually cracks and/or causes more head aches to the system. and for only a little bit of coolant.

 

[Thermo]

Panda, if you are wanting to get the last little bit out of the engine, then I would tell you to use a little bit of compressed air. Once you have the thermostat removed, then you don't have any restrictions. Take a small line like the one leading to the heater core in the dash and blow air in their with the cap off of the overflow bottle. This should give you enough pressure to push the water out.

 

[panda24619]

cool. thanks for that thermo. but im not worryed about 1/4 gallon. or even a cup of coolant. ill post up more questions as i see them.