winter storage - any green coolant??
#6
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 14,429
Total Cats: 1,207
Most coolant jugs have a label that say what temperature the mixtures freeze at. Take your lowest temp you'd expect and choose one lower. But just a splash isn't going to cut it for Chicago. 50/50 is usually good to around -30, and 20/80 coolant/water is more like 20f, way warmer than a cold Chicago winter, no?
If you're worried about it, drain the radiator, fill with full strength green, then run the car for ~20 minutes to circulate it and call it good. Your radiator and block will thank you, water/water wetter mixes are almost never flushed frequently enough.
If you're worried about it, drain the radiator, fill with full strength green, then run the car for ~20 minutes to circulate it and call it good. Your radiator and block will thank you, water/water wetter mixes are almost never flushed frequently enough.
#7
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,456
Total Cats: 6,874
As someone who lives in Chicago, I run 50/50 year round. Because you never know when you're going to get a phone call that you need to come into work at 9pm because the air conditioning in the machine room has stopped working and it's -22°F outside.
Somewhat hilariously, the fact that it was -22°F outside is the reason that it was +130°F in the machine room, and also the reason that I eventually applied a pickaxe to the exterior brick wall of the machine room that evening, which rather quickly brought the temperature down. No, I do not know why we had a pickaxe in the maintenance shop. But I was grateful for it.
Somewhat hilariously, the fact that it was -22°F outside is the reason that it was +130°F in the machine room, and also the reason that I eventually applied a pickaxe to the exterior brick wall of the machine room that evening, which rather quickly brought the temperature down. No, I do not know why we had a pickaxe in the maintenance shop. But I was grateful for it.
#9
Cpt. Slow
iTrader: (25)
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 14,429
Total Cats: 1,207
Any green coolant will work. They usually say “for Asian vehicles” on it. Supposedly the color is related to the minerals in the water around the manufacturing plants where the cars are built. But there’s a lot of rumors like that floating around.
#12
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,456
Total Cats: 6,874
Ok, so the pink joke fell flat.
Going to serious mode, I use the blue coolant at a 50/50 mix year-round. Yes, I spend the extra 99¢ for distilled water at the grocery store, because it makes me feel good.
In terms of changeout-cycle, I've never had an engine remain fully intact for more than two years, so that's the longest I've ever gone between coolant changes.
Going to serious mode, I use the blue coolant at a 50/50 mix year-round. Yes, I spend the extra 99¢ for distilled water at the grocery store, because it makes me feel good.
In terms of changeout-cycle, I've never had an engine remain fully intact for more than two years, so that's the longest I've ever gone between coolant changes.
#13
Retired Mech Design Engr
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Seneca, SC
Posts: 5,012
Total Cats: 859
Ok, so the pink joke fell flat.
Going to serious mode, I use the blue coolant at a 50/50 mix year-round. Yes, I spend the extra 99¢ for distilled water at the grocery store, because it makes me feel good.
In terms of changeout-cycle, I've never had an engine remain fully intact for more than two years, so that's the longest I've ever gone between coolant changes.
Going to serious mode, I use the blue coolant at a 50/50 mix year-round. Yes, I spend the extra 99¢ for distilled water at the grocery store, because it makes me feel good.
In terms of changeout-cycle, I've never had an engine remain fully intact for more than two years, so that's the longest I've ever gone between coolant changes.
#18
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,456
Total Cats: 6,874
I am annoyed by the fact that blue coolant exists.
I thought I was picking a nice, safe color which couldn't possibly be a real thing, under the assumption that it would result in a lot of search-frustration for stevos (not that I have anything against you specifically, merely the circumstances), and here we go proving that, yea, blue coolant exists and so I look like an idiot saying "blue coolant" as though I were saying "blue milk," when in fact it's a thing.
Ok, so admitting that I have totally failed at trolling this thread not once but twice, I offer the following: I use the orange (GM Dexcool) stuff in my cars. I read something about ten years ago which suggested that it was less harmful to Al/Fe engines than most other coolant blends available at that time, and never bothered updating my knowledge since then.
I thought I was picking a nice, safe color which couldn't possibly be a real thing, under the assumption that it would result in a lot of search-frustration for stevos (not that I have anything against you specifically, merely the circumstances), and here we go proving that, yea, blue coolant exists and so I look like an idiot saying "blue coolant" as though I were saying "blue milk," when in fact it's a thing.
Ok, so admitting that I have totally failed at trolling this thread not once but twice, I offer the following: I use the orange (GM Dexcool) stuff in my cars. I read something about ten years ago which suggested that it was less harmful to Al/Fe engines than most other coolant blends available at that time, and never bothered updating my knowledge since then.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post