switching coolant

[NEILL93SHO]

Anyone know the procedure for drain/flush the cooling system on a SHO? I was thinking about the extrended life from prestone 5/150. I have the old green stuff at present. I heard there might be some problem with compatibility if i mixed one with the other. Any thoughts? Also wat is the t-stat i keep seeing in the posts. i NEED A LIST OF TERMS /GLOSSARY. Any one have one i could edumacate myself with? Thanks guys..

Mike

93atx, tokico/eibachs, sfc, pp-y, pro-m maf.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

If you're going to be doing your own maintenance, I would recommend your first investment be a shop manual. The real Ford/Helms manual is superior (i.e. more $$$) than the Chiltons. http://www.helminc.com. They can usually be found on eBay in the $30-$40 range. Every maintenance procedure (including coolant change) is covered in detail.

There's a glossary with photos on the Forum home page. t-stat = thermostat

 

[NEILL93SHO]

Thanks, I s the HELMS that much better than the Haynes that i have now? T-stat, duh! Thanks again?

Mike

 

[93nighthawk]

You might also want to check out www.shotimes.com There is alot of DIY info with pics, including write-ups on t-state replacement.

Eric

 

[olympic]

The new extended life red antifreeze can not be mixed with the old green stuff. I believe it's not recommended to switch to the red stuff once the green stuff has been in your car. If you decide to go ahead with it, flush the block(with both drain plugs removed) for several minutes and do the same for the rad.

 

[sdpatt]

There is no problem with compatibility between the green and orange coolants. For the greatest benefit of the silicate free Dex-Cool coolants, you'll want to get as much as possible of the green coolant out of the system. Since you can only drain about half of the volume of the cooling system from the radiator petcock, you will need about 8 fills and drains with water to to reduce the level to basically zero. The last fills, you will want to use clean, filtered water or best, distalled water when you shoot for the 50/50 mix.

There was an article in Car & Driver about the questionable use of the orange coolant in cars not previously supplied with the stuff. They later corrected the information to say that there is no compatibility problem and to fill away.

 

[LaTechSHO]

well.... not once have i ever disagreed with sd patt over anything he has posted... however, i work at a parts store... and i have had a couple of people come in with slimey slush in thier radiator/overflow tank and the only explanation i was given was them putting the older (green) antifreeze in thier late model GM (using orange dex-cool factory)....i even called prestone over the issue....mind you this was about six months ago... and the prestone rep said.... "Do NOT mix them under any circumstance".... he could be full of shit....and just didn't know the new info... i don't know... just thought i'd throw that out there...neve known sd patt to be wrong

Louis

 

[Kevin Ryan]

You can not mix Ethel. coolant w/Dex-cool type
coolant. Trust me, I advise at a GM dealer. It causes the coolant to sluge up and creates a weak sulfuric? acid which attacks the aluminum and gaskets in the engine. I see 3.1lL's coming in here every week with blown head gaskets and damaged heads due to the mixing coolants. If you are going to use a Dex-cool type make sure you backflush the entire cooling system and get all the green out. Later.

 

[shojuan]

sdpatt:
There was an article in Car & Driver about the questionable use of the orange coolant in cars not previously supplied with the stuff. They later corrected the information to say that there is no compatibility problem and to fill away.

Scott, I have the two consecutive issues of C&D that have the Patrick Bedard coolant articles. I don't remember seeing any corrections to the 'Don't use orange if it was born with green' advice. Do you have the issue and page where this correction was made?

Rick

 

[sdpatt]

I didn't intend to say it was okay to mix the coolant types. I said it was okay to use the Dex-Cool in cars that were originally equipped with the ethylene glycol anti freeze. I did say that to thouroughly remove the old coolant you need at least 8 fill and drains with water to purge the old coolant from the system. I will check for the small quip in the later Car & Driver about the use of Dex-Cool in the older cars.

Scott

 

[NEILL93SHO]

I read the same article Scott and that's why i am concerned. I was planning on the dist water only and had a another question regarding draining. Has anyone found the drain plug in the block? i have no idea where it is and looked in every place i thought it might be. Is it needed to drain completely or will the petcock do just fine? again thanks for the info guys

Mike

 

[shojuan]

There are probably 2 but I have only seen one of them, the rear one. You have to get under the car with a flashlight, draw a line from the oil drain plug up past the oil pan to a few inches below the iron block / aluminum cylinder head junction. It's the hex head plug in the middle. There's probably another one on the front of the engine in the same part of the V. Make sure you use teflon tape or pipe compound when you reinstall. I didn't bother using these because I backflushed the engine and pumped 5 gallons of distilled water through the system, plus I knew I'd be replacing all the hoses and water pump later and would get a good drain out of those later.

IMO, it's not necessary to use the block drain plugs, they just let you get the job done faster. As long as you do enough progressive dilutions with distilled water, draining from the radiator alone is fine.

Rick

 

[srfdude]

Here is a related article about DexCool. GM has had many headaches from using this stuff, although they say its from contamination and not antifreeze breakdown.
http://www.imcool.com/articles/antifreeze-coolant/dexcool-macs2001.htm
A friend has a '96 Blazer w/V6 that had the famous head problem, with a gelatinous mass in the cooling passages. Chev ended up buying him a new engine.
Mike

 

[NEILL93SHO]

sfrdude, are you stationed on Camp Pendleton? I see a few SHOs running around here. Have you found any reliable mechs around O'side, or do you work on your own car? Thanks for the article copy. I think i will stick with the green stuff.

Mike

 

[sdpatt]

Mike,

Thank you very much for that imcool link. I have already added the home site to my favorites. That article relieves some of the concerns I have heard about the Dex-Cool mix. When I filled my SHO, I filled and drained 8 times before performing the final flushes with distilled water. I then fill with a gallon and a half of Prestone Long Life and top off with distilled water. I see none of the solids in my system that I have seen in some of the SHOs with the old green stuff. Clean it. Fill it with the right stuff. Keep it topped off.

Scott

 

[SHOZ123]

I've used Dexcool in both my SHOs for the last two years. As long as you're **** about getting a good rinse before you fill AND you keep the air out of the system you will be OK.

<small>[ September 01, 2002, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: SHOZ123 ]</small>

 

[shojuan]

NEILL93SHO:
Has anyone found the drain plug in the block? i have no idea where it is and looked in every place i thought it might be. thanks for the info guys

Mike

Ok, I kept my eyes open for the front block drain plug when I was replacing my oil cooler coolant hoses today. The front drain plug is the hex headed plug immediately to the left of the oil filter housing.

Rick

 

[SHOZ123]

I have an extra cooler plumbed into these oil cooler water lines.

 

[srfdude]

My last coolant change was as frustrating as ever. I pulled the water hose off the front of the throttle body; this allows an easier time of it, but it still only drains approx half of the total in the system. There has to be a better way, short of pulling the freeze plugs. Has anyone successfully installed the Prestone flush kit in the heater hose of the SHO? I put one in my truck and its great; not much room in the MTX SHO because the engine is so close to the firewall.
Mike

 

[SHOZ123]

The easiest way to flush out the coolant is to use a garden hose.

First drain as much of the old antifreeze as possible by removing the upper and lower radiator hoses. Take the TB water line off.

Reconnect the lower radiator hose hand tight. Then put a garden hose in the radiator fill opening. Let it run until clear water comes out of the TB hose. Then connect the upper radiator hose hand tight and start the motor (keeping an eye on the radiator level with the garden hose) so that the water will circulate through the heater and other parts.

Once the water is coming out clear shut the motor off and drain as before. Flush out the overflow bottle too. I use compressed air to blow in the TB hose but seldom get much more water out.

Then reconnect the radiator hoses and tighten. Slowly pour in the about a 1/2 gallon of straight antifreeze. Then slowly pour in a mix of 50/50 antifreeze and distilled water until the coolant coming out of the TB hose is the color of the antifreeze mixture you are pouring in.

The antifreeze is heavier than the water and will force the flush water up and out the TB hose.