You got it!

 

Yes, but you don't need distilled water. Any clean, drinkable water is what is called for.

 

Don't need the fluoride and the rest of the hard minerals in the water in the cooling system.

 

If you buy the water at Wally World both Distilled water and Mineral water are .86 per gallon. Why put all those unnecessary minerals in your cooling system if you dont need to?

 

Wallymart has Dex-Cool in the 50/50 mix for around $12.00 a gallon and the posted Dex-Cool below which does not state 50/50 mix at about $14.00 a gallon. So I'm assuming to obtain a 50/50 mix just walk to the other side of the store and pick up a gallon of distilled water and make 2 gallons for $14.00 instead of paying $24.00 for 2 of the 50/50..........?

The bottle states:

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thats what I did and used distilled water, its cheap enough :thumb

 

I just use straight tap water. From the kitchen.

 

The point of using a Bank Breaking $2.50 for Distilled Water is, you're goal for the Coolant mixture is to have a balanced pH. Tap water can vary by region (+ additives, like chlorine, fluoride, etc.). 'Pure' water is at 7, but even untreated Spring water can vary, usually above 7.
For humans' health, I prefer it to be on the alkaline side of pure. :farmer

 

I pay enough for good clean soft drinking water out of the tap in utility fees and taxes, I don't need to pay more for water, distilled or not. There is not much difference here in BC other than a little bit of chlorine. No other additives and we have enough rain that the mineral content is minimal!!!

 

Distilled water at Wally world here is $.89 and it is the best for mixing with the anti freeze, we have a distiller at the sewer treatment plant so it costs me $0.

 

I need to do this soon, but one thing I haven't figured out (and a youtube search would probably do it) is how to bleed the system? I know there is a bolt you need to remove, but do you remove it as you are filling, or fill then remove then start?

 

50/50 pre mixed has got to be ones of the best marketing scams someone ever came up with. they sell it slightly cheaper than straight antifreeze, maybe a couple bucks, and idiots buy it.

FWIW i have never used distilled water in any vehicle.

empty- if the lmm is the same as earlier there is a bolt on top of the thermostat cover, loosen that and fill till it runs out. I think the bleeder bolt went away with the LMLs. I usually start dumping the antifreeze in, and when the overflow bottom is full open that bleeder.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

I've never used distilled water in my cars either. Why people are paying $7 a gallon (or more) baffles me.

 

...Why people are paying $7 a gallon (or more) baffles me.

Maybe agua is muy dinero in AZ.....we're talkin' 0.79-0.89 cents/gal, x3.

Plus, everyone knows....distilled water adds 5 hp. :grinn

 

Pre mix is ok for topping up. If you flush your system some water will still be there. With unmixed you can put enough coolant in first and add water. Then the mix will be correct. Pre mixed will not be correct with left over water from flushing.

 

Wallymart has Dex-Cool in the 50/50 mix for around $12.00 a gallon and the posted Dex-Cool below which does not state 50/50 mix at about $14.00 a gallon. So I'm assuming to obtain a 50/50 mix just walk to the other side of the store and pick up a gallon of distilled water and make 2 gallons for $14.00 instead of paying $24.00 for 2 of the 50/50..........?

Walk to other side of the store with your $14.00 a gallon of antifreeze/coolant and pay about $1.00 for a gallon of distilled water and make 2 gallons of 50/50 anti-freeze for $15.00.....

I got 10hp for the Az distilled water..........

 

I bought distiller water when I change the coolant.

 

Interesting info about Dex-cool

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - Dexcool, Coolants and Proper Service

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=dex-cool+ph+check

 

interesting ^

 

This part I found difficult to buy into..

Coolant should always be premixed, 50/50 before pouring into the cooling system. Since coolant is considerably heavier than water, the two will not mix in the cooling system. This leaves heavier coolant (which ironically does not cool) in the lower part of the system. The lighter (and corrosive) water tends to circulate in the top of the system, where it eats away at the radiator, heater core and cylinder heads.

 

I could see some irregularities in the mix at 1st, when adding to a conventional capped Rad with side reservoir tank. But a pressurized surge tank has a constant flow thru it.

Regardless, when the mixed coolant flow hits it's hottest point in the engine, water is separating from the mix (as steam) and rejoined to the mix in cool down at the Rad. A constant thermal mix process from use, no?

 

Regardless, when the mixed coolant flow hits it's hottest point in the engine, water is separating from the mix (as steam) and rejoined to the mix in cool down at the Rad. A constant thermal mix process from use, no?

Not sure about that, the solution created when mixing antifreeze and water is to not only lower the freeze point of water, but also increase the boing point to where at normal operating temps this situation you describe does not happen.

 

It's not about what is steaming out. What I'm pointing to is a cycle occurring internally, several thousand times a second.

Water turns to steam @ 100C/212F.
A 50/50 mix with ethylene glycol raises that point to 103C/217F
Pressurize that mix to 14-15psi and you raise it further to approx 123C/253F

However, with internal hotspots in the engine (portions of the block/cylinder head), flash vaporization can occur as the coolant passes thru, momentarily exceeding 253F.

That flash occurrence (cavitation) is why SCAs are used to replenish the nitrite/nitrates, which help protect the wet sleeve liners from cavitation damage in HD Diesels.

Steam has no thermal conductive abilities. Inadequate mix/poor old coolant, you have a greater occurrence of flash vapor, resulting in higher internal heat/wear on engine components (and oil)....not reflected in your ECT gauge as you ramble on down the road.

 

No worries for me, I poured the 100% coolant and distilled water in a 5 gallon bucket and used my handy dandy plastic paint spinner thingy mixer on my cordless, maybe I'll just change out a gallon or two every year and a half and use some pH strips to check the alkaline...:neener

http://www.acustrip.com/res/pss/PSS-1550.pdf

 

You don't need to buy strips, use your multi-meter.

 

Post the correct settings and what the meter should read and where the +/- are to be placed, I have found a few contradicting answers in the last year....

 

This right here is what you want.

You're not actually measuring PH. As the mix becomes more acidic, it acts like an electrolyte with all of the engine materials, in a sense, a battery.
Higher acid levels, higher voltage readings.

All About Dex-Cool® - GETAHELMET.COM

Fresh mix baseline, 0.5-0.1 volts.
Above 0.5 volts, change it.

My DMM doesnt have all them settings like the one in the video Hook posted. I dont need that level of detail. In my world, Sierra hotel or its not and being able to read past 3 decimals is well past the point of overkill.

I ordered some test strips b/c i'm curious how the ph and voltage readings compare. They come in today. I'll post up my numbers tonight for anyone else curious about ph vs Vdc

 

You're not actually measuring PH. As the mix becomes more acidic, it acts like an electrolyte with all of the engine materials, in a sense, a battery.
Higher acid levels, higher voltage readings.

All About Dex-Cool® - GETAHELMET.COM

Fresh mix baseline, 0.5-0.1 volts.
Above 0.5 volts, change it.

 

I watched some (incorrect) youtube video and was told that the numbers were a decimal to the left of what you said (0.05v and above is bad). I measured 0.2v and about crapped a brick so i got on here to confirm. Sure enough, hook to the rescue. Thanks, again, for transferring knowledge.

 

Do you have to use DexCool, or can you use the normal yellow Prestone in an LML?

 

Use Dex-Cool

 

Old thread.

Several weeks back, I checked mine with the meter, seeing where it was at.
Lost track of when the last swap was and then there's the several leak things corrected over time (always adding some here and there to top off), so I wasn't sure how fresh it was with all the added coolant.

I pulled an 8.

Had it serviced....now it's a 2. :howdy

 

I'm not a fan of Dex-Cool. I've seen a lot of corrosion in engines running it. What happens is that something, like a hose fitting, will leak very slowly. The water will boil out of the coolant as it seeps out, leaving behind concentrated Dex-Cool. The concentrate will eat away at the fitting until it is gone. If the concentration of Dex-Cool gets too high inside the engine it also corrodes things, like aluminum manifolds. That's what I have seen. You do what ever you like.

I keep some Dex-Cool on hand for those who insist on it but I recommend against it.

 

Only the water in the mix 'boils' out of a leak? 'dunno;
Are the Dex molecules somehow larger than water, and only the smaller water molecules leak past an open spot?

Now, as the coolant mix passes thru the hottest part of it's journey (piston cylinders), the water part can separate as steam, and is mixed back as it's cooled down in the cycle. This is why SCAs are added in to protect against cavitation in wet sleeved Diesels, giving the nitrite protection against the mini explosions occurring with the steam formation.

As steam, perhaps only it leaks past an open spot?

During the class action suit brought many years ago, with only some small gasser engines of the late 80s/early 90s, GM did some extensive testing to find the truth behind what was happening internally to these engines.

What they found was, the owners never serviced their cooling systems and they ran 'em chronically at low levels, with air displacing the lost volume. Over time, this void left many areas unprotected against metallurgic reactions of dissimilar materials.

They summarized that the most important thing was to keep the system topped off, and the second being diminished quality of the coolant. (see pH test below).
Knowing this^, I can see how you might draw the conclusion that internal damage stemmed from too concentrated of a mix. When in reality, it was the loss of overall volume and poor quality that did 'em in.

Add to this that along with switching to green, you also have a shorter coolant lifespan and is changed more frequently, adding to the Dex myth that it's a terrible thing to run and that green is better.
Had you serviced the Dex as frequently, you wouldn't have seen any problems either.

Keep the pH in check, and keep 'em full, is the key with Dex....or for that matter, any coolant mix.

What is the proper method using multimeter?

Pay no attention to the opening print statement, it's wrong. Whatever level on your meter your choose, affects where the decimal point lies. But this shows the gist of it.