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mercedesme2 · 11-13-2013, 07:12 PM

As I try to do more more work on this old Rig myself it's time to flush the radiator and I was wondering if that something I can do myself ?
how many gallons of coolant does it hold, what rate of anti-freeze and water, I do not go into cold area's but do live in AZ..
do I need to have it running a little bit to open the thermostat ?

One strange effect that I get is when I'm driving during the summer and I going to a mountain pass I would expect the thermostat to go to high or hot instead of drops down to cold and goes down below cold, at times dropping way below the C
At first I thought perhaps some had put the thermostat wires on backwards, but then this summer crossing the Midwest the temp did go up towards the H.
Another thought I had was should I install a electric fan to help cool?
This is a older Bounder 1992 therefore I'm lucky enough not to have all of the computer stuff to worry about,( which is why I bought an older one)
So any help or ideas will be great, some work, thanks to all of you I've decided to leave to someone who knows more then I do, however I think this is simple enough for me to do...
Thanks in advance for any help or advice...

GraySeal65 · 11-13-2013, 07:24 PM

I would take the thermostat out and get a new one, I'm thinking it's stuck open. wile it's out stick your garden hose in the upper radiator hose and back flush through the system that way. A 50% 50% mix is what I would use. IDK how much you will need, just get a bunch and return what you don't use. I wouldn't get an electric fan yet, let's get the engine temps to run in the "normal" range first.

mercedesme2 · 11-14-2013, 01:31 AM

What would cause it to read cold or to drop temp while climbing mountains and even coming down the grades with the OD off to help slow the rig, I would think that would cause the engine to run hotter, not colder?

GraySeal65 · 11-14-2013, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercedesme2

What would cause it to read cold or to drop temp while climbing mountains and even coming down the grades with the OD off to help slow the rig, I would think that would cause the engine to run hotter, not colder?

If the thermostat is stuck open the coolant never stays in the block long enough to soak up the engine heat, the engine temp runs hot but the coolant stays cold. Or you may just have a bad sensor for the gauge giving you a false reading.

jamesrxx951 · 11-14-2013, 08:15 AM

It is most likely the sensor is going bad in the temp range that shows hot. The t-stat is still a restriction in the system that allows the coolant to soak up plenty of heat. If the T-stat is removed and a garden hosed is used for flushing, you will have pure water in the block. If a 50/50 mix is used, once fully bled and running, the mix will be much more water than coolant. If you have no plans on seeing any cold, in many cases you can go with a 40%coolant to 60% water mix for better heat dissipation. I would do the first fill with pure coolant and then do the intended mix. Should get you pretty close to where you want to be.

chboone · 11-14-2013, 09:35 PM

When I do a complete flush with water from the house, I pull the bottom hose off to get as much water out as I can. Then I refill the system with distilled water, run the engine till the thermostat opens, let the engine cool and drain and refill with distilled water, run the engine again. Once all the water is drained add the coolant, even with the water in the block you should be at 40% concentration of coolant to water. Don't use the prediluted coolant. The reason I do it that way is to get the minerals out of the system especially if the water is real hard.

Chuck