Stupid question but...

How often should coolant be changed? My heat worked pretty well when winter started (well, what we call winter...) but it's started to be the sucks as of late. I was thinking maybe it's time for ye olde B-body religious heater core flush, but then I thought... how old is this coolant? I don't know, but I also don't know how often one should change their coolant so... I direct my question to you gents.

How often should you change your coolant?

TBI cars have the green stuff, i.e. not extended life. Rule of thumb on the green anti-freeze is every two years. I'll admit to not being the best about doing this though.

As a side question. Isn't the point of anti-freeze just that? Meaning, in theory, couldn't you southern folks just run distilled water straight?

I suppose, but it DOES get cold here occasionally... it was 26 degrees this morning. Since I spent a few years in Maine I don't mind it though. I was the only person in a T-shirt. LOL

So if I don't really know how old it is, is there like a tell-tale way of knowing when to change it by looking? Or do I add water? Or what? lol

Dexcool (orange stuff) is good for 5 years supposedly. I am going to just guess 2 on the regular stuff. I rarely change mine, the stuff in my truck is almost 10 years old and is still clean, heat works too.

Oh, I thought you were going to ask who died and made this a craigslist forum.

Sting, you test coolant by two methods. pH, and density. The first uses test strips (think testing a pool), and the second uses a float hydrometer. Both are dirt cheap at the parts store.

However, old coolant doesn't cause low heat.

DBeaSSt wrote:

....... Meaning, in theory, couldn't you southern folks just run distilled water straight?

Moonshine..................

So regarding my low (read: almost no) heat scenario, flush the core?

That'd be the place to start, yeah. They get a little gunked up sometimes.

Alright, I'll do that Sunday when I have access to a garden hose, lol I'm leaving for winter break on Saturday.

Also note: low coolant can equal no heat.

Hmm... you know, I haven't looked. I'd feel pretty dense if that were the case....

Too cold to go out now anyway (not to mention no money, ). Studying for a Medieval Culture exam that I have tomorrow, what fun!

[/sarcasm]

Change the green stuff every 2 years. You should not run just straight water, coolant has lubricating properties for the water pump, and rust/corrosion inhibitors. A good test to check coolant is to use a volt meter, connect the negitive (blk.) lead to battery neg., and the positive (red) lead right into the coolent. You should have a reading of less than .3 volts. Anything more and you should change it.

There is some sort of hydrometer to tell how well the coolant is but if its discolored it really wont tell you that much.. but me i usually change it around 50,000miles.. thats because i like to keep things clean.. when it comes to that im a freak and spend my money stupidly..

Hold the bus here all you internet mechanics,..
does your car have a heat guage? does it work? is it reading normal?
with the car hot after driving some, open the hood,. see if the top rad hose is hot (should be too hot to hold onto for more than a second or two) then see if the two heater hoses are hot going into the core at the fire wall,.
If neither is hot, check your thermostat,.
If the bottom one is hot and the top is cool,.
then flush the core,.

Nick

Heat gauge as in engine temperature? If so, yes. It seems to work to me (car never smells like it's running hot or anything, gauge never goes up past halfway). I'll try the hose thing tomorrow or Friday.

Prior to your ride south, check and make sure it's topped off and then monitor the temp gauge while driving home. At highway speeds air flow over the engine will aid a fair amount even if your rad's ability to cool diminishes.

Unless it's going to freeze for days straight, I'd say drop the contents and use city water to clean it out when you get home. I've been running straight tap water for two years in my '92 Ruby and it's still translucent. I put a 160 stat in and the temp gauge never goes above 1/4.

When I got my '94 I drove it back from Orlando with a leaky rad and watching the temp gauge. I managed to get all the way to West Palm before I had to pull off to let it cool/refill.

I'm driving back on Sunday morning myself so if you need any assistance lmk.

How much coolant does it take to fill it?

I believe to 2 gallons of full (not 50/50) will be plenty. Mix it 50/50 and add a bottle of Water Wetter to it. That helps to improve the effectiveness of the coolant. I use it in all my cars. If you are flushing the block as well you might buy three and return one if you do not use it.

Tim

I may as well flush it all. I mean, no point in half-assing it since I don't know when it was last changed anyway.

Somewhere I read 18 quarts is the complete capacity.......... So 3 gallons of 100% mixed 50/50 would more than be enough.

Wow, that's a boatload of coolant, lol.

I'll do this next week then. This week's pay check is supposed to go to gas to drive me home. I'll live without heat for a few more days.

Stingroo wrote:

I may as well flush it all. I mean, no point in half-assing it since I don't know when it was last changed anyway.

I think that is a good move. Since antifreeze doesn't really 'wear out', the only reason that I can see for any stated 'lifespan' is to keep the acidity in the system down. Over time, combustion gases slowly work their way into the cooling system, eating away at the aluminum radiator & heater core. It seems like cheap headache insurance to flush all of the liquid out periodically.

so, did you at least check the hoses or what?

I'll get a look at all of it tomorrow. I just got home from school. Will report back then.