Which coolant?

[Toploader]

Now that I am installing a new Aluminum Radiator........after I flush the engine, which coolant should I use??

Prestone green 50/50 mix, or Prestone 50/50 mix Prime?

Just want to use the proper coolant now that the copper/brass radiator is being removed.

Thanks!

[gadget73]

whatever green stuff is on sale. Mix your own, or buy pre-mix as you prefer. I'm cheap so I use whichever works out to a better price per gallon. If you mix your own, distilled water can be had most places for cheap.

[IPreferDIY]

I wouldn't bother with pre-mix myself. IIRC, you end up paying about twice as much. Here's the way I mix mine:
1. mark the full level on the distilled water container
2. pour out half the distilled water into an extra large measuring cup/bowl
3. pour enough antifreeze into the distilled water container to bring it up to the full level mark
4. pour the rest of the distilled water into the antifreeze container.

Since pretty much everything meets minimum specs, I don't see the point of getting fancy.

[LithiumCobalt]

Green!!!

[miamibob]

Depends how much you can get each for. Go with the cheapest, easiest option!

[gadget73]

I wouldn't bother with pre-mix myself. IIRC, you end up paying about twice as much. Here's the way I mix mine:
1. mark the full level on the distilled water container
2. pour out half the distilled water into an extra large measuring cup/bowl
3. pour enough antifreeze into the distilled water container to bring it up to the full level mark
4. pour the rest of the distilled water into the antifreeze container.

Since pretty much everything meets minimum specs, I don't see the point of getting fancy.

I have occasionally seen 50/50 premix on sale for the same price as you could make it yourself for. Not normally the case, but it does happen sometimes. Always worth doing the math first. Normally though, I'd just dump a gallon of distilled and a gallon of antifreeze into a clean bucket, and then fill the radiator from that.

[piranah]

Take care of your car. get some Zerex.

[chitownvic]

X2 Gadget


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[jaywish]

I use the 5 year instead of the 3 year. You would be surprised how fast 3 or even 5 years come around.
Just mark the radiator with the month and year the next coolant change is due.

The 5 year reduces required maintenance by 40%.

[IPreferDIY]

... Normally though, I'd just dump a gallon of distilled and a gallon of antifreeze into a clean bucket, and then fill the radiator from that.

The effort-measuring part of my brain is thinking "Ya, that's convenient, but I still have to clean the bucket". Distilled water doesn't dirty my measuring bowl.

Incidentally, anyone wondering about funnels is probably surrounded by disposable funnels. Just cut the bottom off an empty plastic water bottle. If you're like me and prefer filtered water, just grab one from a recycling bin. While you're at it, you can grab another for your windshield washer fluid.

[IPreferDIY]

I use the 5 year instead of the 3 year. You would be surprised how fast 3 or even 5 years come around.
Just mark the radiator with the month and year the next coolant change is due.

The 5 year reduces required maintenance by 40%.

Instead of doing a complete flush every five years, I'm planning on doing a half-flush every couple of years using the 'cheap' (Canadian Tire brand) five-year stuff when it's on sale. My father once went to someone who put the orange stuff in even though the manual says not to use that stuff. After going through the hassle of flushing when I changed my rad before a particular winter, and then draining about half through the rad drain when doing my heater core after that winter, there was still lots of crud in the fluid. At $15-20 for two gallons of mixed fluid, I don't mind spending this every couple of years considering how convenient the rad drain is. This seems necessary for my particular problem, though I'm wondering how this would compare to a complete flush every five years when not dealing with such a problem.

[gadget73]

that orange deathcool shit is horrible. GM vehicles shouldn't even use that garbage.

[jaywish]

I do like to run fresh clean water through the system until I get as much crud out as possible. That would be the difference between a full cleaning and just replacing some of the fluid periodically.

Don't get me wrong, replacing part of the fluid periodically is a heck load better than not doing anything.

Just FYI, when I do a complete cleaning I never get all the clean water out of the system. So this is what I do. Look up the total system capacity and add straight antifreeze for half the capacity, or a touch under half. Simply fill the the rest of the system with distilled water in whatever amount is necessary including the burping if necessary. You get about a 50/50 mix that way.

You can't get to a 50/50 mix with the premix after a complete flush unless you get all of the clean water out of the system before you add any fluid.

[IPreferDIY]

... After going through the hassle of flushing when I changed my rad before a particular winter, and then draining about half through the rad drain when doing my heater core after that winter, there was still lots of crud in the fluid. ...

I guess I should correct my brain fart, and I'll add some info while I'm at it. My heater core went in May 2011 and I bypassed it. I replaced my rad in September 2011 and my heater core in November 2011. At those times, I hadn't noticed any nasty red stuff in either the rad or the heater core, though my coolant overflow tank has always had a dark red coating (and I'll be replacing that soon). When I changed my intake manifold in May 2013, there was no nasty red stuff present, though there might have been a bit of discoloration. Even at that point though, there was still a lot of crud in the coolant. The color was off, and when I left it to sit, lots of stuff sank to the bottom of the container.

I do like to run fresh clean water through the system until I get as much crud out as possible. That would be the difference between a full cleaning and just replacing some of the fluid periodically.

Don't get me wrong, replacing part of the fluid periodically is a heck load better than not doing anything.

Just FYI, when I do a complete cleaning I never get all the clean water out of the system. So this is what I do. Look up the total system capacity and add straight antifreeze for half the capacity, or a touch under half. Simply fill the the rest of the system with distilled water in whatever amount is necessary including the burping if necessary. You get about a 50/50 mix that way.

You can't get to a 50/50 mix with the premix after a complete flush unless you get all of the clean water out of the system before you add any fluid.

I don't remember exactly what I did when I flushed mine while replacing my rad, but it seemed like overkill. It was probably a matter of using way more 50/50 than the actual capacity to be sure I got all the old stuff out.

Just so we're on the same page, when I did mine, I had the engine running with the upper rad hose draining into a plastic bag-like container. Is that the same flush method that you do? And when you do the water only part, are you using only distilled water at that point? Flushing with cheap distilled water and then adding straight antifreeze to bring it to 50/50 using this method certainly makes sense.

[Toploader]

I will however be adding one pint of No-Rosion to the mix, this stuff is the best........


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