antifreeze
- Thread starter jlat
- Start date
if it gets below freezing where you live, even once in a blue moon, dont run straight water. Especially since tap water has a lot of minerals that'll destroy your cooling system over time.
oreilly's and napa afaik are the only places you can still buy oldschool green coolant. just whatever you use, dont mix types/colors. i dont even trust universal after seeing it sitting ontop of green coolant in my buddies truck.
oreilly's and napa afaik are the only places you can still buy oldschool green coolant. just whatever you use, dont mix types/colors. i dont even trust universal after seeing it sitting ontop of green coolant in my buddies truck.
Hey man, I remember you from back in the day, you built a Buick 350?
I actually made a thread asking about winter prep because I live in South Florida and don't need antifreeze but also curious about it and what else goes in to wintering cars up north.
Yes, that was/is me.
As for winterizing, it kind of depends on your situation really. If you drive your car year round like i do, make sure you keep coolant in it year round. It's got the added corrosion, freezing, and boiling protection and lubricants in it for the water pump. Sure, it's a lot messier when you have a leak or if a hose pops, but, living where it can go from -50 with wind chill to nearly 115 with heat index, its just a safe bet.
if you live down south or a place where it never freezes, water is fine, but like i said straight tap water isn't good for cooling systems, let alone that salty coast water. Even water at restaurants down there tastes like they dumped a spoonful of salt in it. Add two or more gallons of that into your cooling system, you'll be rebuilding it every other year.
Aside from coolant, if i know the car will be inactive for a while, i'll bring my battery either inside (not in a living space due to the gasses lead acid batteries give off0, or i'll keep it on a trickle charger in my garage on a low setting. i try not to even start my buick if it's much below zero ambient because of how notoriously weak their oil pumps are, but the general rule of thumb is if the oil still drips off the dipstick, it's not too cold to start.
I use prestone anti-freeze 50/50 mix plus one bottle of RMI-25 in my Alradco aluminum radiator
you can get 50/50 or Concentrate green Ethylene Glycol practically anywhere
Fram 101 and Fram 201
If you run straight water and have an iron block, well, that's not a good long term plan. I run straight water with water wetter in my Camaro in the summer and even that creates a bit of rust. It needs purged 2x a year to keep clean and when I first got it it seemed that no amount of purging would ever get it clean. It was awful. It came from Socal so ran straight water year 'round there. Less coolant is more better for cooling, but you at least need something to lube the water pump.
I've shied away from frame.atuff so hard I forgot they even made multiple flavors of car juice.
(Oils, coolant, etc)
