ccgoodwrench Posted November 10, 2006 Report Share Posted November 10, 2006 did anybody try and drill out the petcock hole and add the drain valve on the radaitor, mine too has no drian valve, what was gm thinking, cast the housing but we won't put the drain vavle in and save 10 cents. just wondering if anybody added the drain valve and how they did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion231 Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 Well I was going to add some water wetter and a little bit of regular antifreeze to the system after installing the new stat, but after reading the entire post I am concerned that when I drain everything I can, some of the nasty orange dex will mix with the green and create a chemical fiasco. Anyone care to chime in and give any advice? I really don't see how I can drain the lower block very easily unless I could purge the entire system while the engine is running. Autozone have a special tool i can rent for this or machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccgoodwrench Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 just get some dex-cool and you won't have to worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmergencyVP1 Posted April 29, 2007 Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Well I was going to add some water wetter and a little bit of regular antifreeze to the system after installing the new stat, but after reading the entire post I am concerned that when I drain everything I can, some of the nasty orange dex will mix with the green and create a chemical fiasco. Anyone care to chime in and give any advice? I really don't see how I can drain the lower block very easily unless I could purge the entire system while the engine is running. Autozone have a special tool i can rent for this or machine? I did my T-stat about a month ago and added the water wetter to Dex-Cool. Im lucky if temps see 180 degs so far....On a few of the colder mornings this month, the drive to work was chilly...Luke-warm air was the best I was getting with the heat on full blast..... Dont change out the dex-cool...It works just fine...Just mix 50/50 with water and add a bottle of Redline water wetter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpav Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 GREAT POST!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted July 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Wow lots of unanswered questions - How do you tell if you have an air bubble trapped in the ssytem? My 160 deg thermo stat runs at 180 deg and then after a little bit of driving it will go up 200 and then back down and then up again randomly. I did the burping procedure again and it still happens. It is worse in warm weather. Seems if I am on the freeway, it never really does it. However, It also seems to only do it if I have gone up or down a significant hill. I did the search and saw that one guy who had a tool to evacuate the system with a compressor and refill it. I was also told it should work its way out too. Do I just need efans? The behavior that you describe is typical, no I don't think that you have any air trapped in the system. The temperature going up and down is normal, the engine will only take a gulp from the radiator when it's hot enough to open the thermostat and do so. My own personal theory is that the truck needs a better radiator but I have not investigated that... did anybody try and drill out the petcock hole and add the drain valve on the radaitor, mine too has no drian valve, what was gm thinking, cast the housing but we won't put the drain vavle in and save 10 cents. just wondering if anybody added the drain valve and how they did it. Nope, accept the fact that you're stuck with removing the lower rad hose to drain the system. I would not advise nor attempt drilling into the plastic tanks. Well I was going to add some water wetter and a little bit of regular antifreeze to the system after installing the new stat, but after reading the entire post I am concerned that when I drain everything I can, some of the nasty orange dex will mix with the green and create a chemical fiasco. Anyone care to chime in and give any advice? I really don't see how I can drain the lower block very easily unless I could purge the entire system while the engine is running. Autozone have a special tool i can rent for this or machine? What I've done in the past - in my demolition derby car days we would undo both hoses, remove the thermostat, and then shove a garden hose at full blast down the upper coolant hose fitting and let the water run for a few minutes to flush out whatever scale/crap/fluid we could and for the most part this worked well enough; we would also do the same with the radiator. But I personally would advise just buying and using DEX-COOL. Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot rod truck Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Additional info about the anti-freeze: There is now available global antifreeze. It is the AC-DC of antifreeze. It can be used to replace green or Dexcool and can be mixed with either to top off. There is some speculation that Dexcool has an acidic reaction to the plastic intake gaskets causing them to fail and leak. GM has denied this. Global antifreeze is very close to the PH balance of Dexcool but does not affect the intake gaskets. Many professional techs are leaning towards the global antifreeze because, obviously the one product covers almost all applications and the concerns that Dexcool may be the cause of failed intake gaskets. This is information from my customers. I'm trying to find the article that refers to this. Food for thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJT13 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 I got my 160* tstat a couple of weeks ago but haven't put it in yet. I can't remember where I read them, but I read reasons not to put one in. Mainly for fuel mileage I think. As of right now, my motor/trans are both stock. This weekend, the truck goes in for a transmission rebuild as well as TC and shift kit add. Then I need a tune. Should I hold off till after all that to put the tstat in or can I do it now. Not right now, it's dark. and drizzley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted July 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 I got my 160* tstat a couple of weeks ago but haven't put it in yet. I can't remember where I read them, but I read reasons not to put one in. Mainly for fuel mileage I think. As of right now, my motor/trans are both stock. This weekend, the truck goes in for a transmission rebuild as well as TC and shift kit add. Then I need a tune. Should I hold off till after all that to put the tstat in or can I do it now. Not right now, it's dark. and drizzley. Do it now, that way you can have your tuner accomodate everything in his work. Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJT13 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 thanks Mr. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJT13 Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 ok, I know it's been a few years, but who redesigned the radiator hose clamps. those things suck. would have been a 15 min job without those. and no skinned knuckles.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS04 Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 i'm trying to do my 160* stat now and i can't get the valve open in the second picture. it says you can unscrew it with your fingers but i can't. how do i go about opening it? i'm stumped???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted August 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 i'm trying to do my 160* stat now and i can't get the valve open in the second picture. it says you can unscrew it with your fingers but i can't. how do i go about opening it? i'm stumped???? Don't worry about being civilized - go ahead and undo the thermostat housing, the coolant will drain from there... Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rausche Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 Ok, so from what I understand, I can buy an '04 housing and tstat for my '03 and it will bolt up and be fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSS04 Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 so how do you pry off the retainer on the t stat hose? i don't want to break it and it is not coming loose. this project is harder than i thought. someone please explain how you get the retainer off !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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