Any recommendations on what anti-freeze to use.

[agentf1]

Any recommendations on what anti-freeze to use. I thought I saw a thread on here that recommended Peak Lifetime but cannot find it now. I assume the big thing with changing to the Peak Lifetime is the need to thoroughly flush the overflow bottle. The block will get flushed regardless. I also assume I should be using distilled water with whatever antifreeze I choose.

Any other tips on doing this or the burping process would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CEJ]

I used the Mopar long-life premixed coolant. I used distilled water to flush out the system (twice) before installing the new coolant. I used the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator (came out very easily) and made a tool to use on the t-stat housing bleed screw (used a 6 mm allen key and ground it down. Fits perfectly). Burping was easy...just squeeze the top radiator hose gently and you'll see stuff belch out of the t-stat housing bleed hole. There are plenty of threads on this topic too. Take your time and remember to dispose of the old coolant properly.

 

[Ron]

Don't forget the two block drain plugs

 

[GTSHolgi]

Used the factory fill product (mopar antifreeze green, 3 yrs) recently. Wasn't easy to get here in Germany . Also removed the engine drain plugs. Was a bit of a mess although I tried to avoid it being a mess as much as I could...

 

[Matt M PA]

About to do the same project on mine...bought a very helpful tool. I've used it on two other cars we have first...and it works very well. The UView Airlift allows you to pull a vacuum on your empty system. All the hoses compress, etc...then you simply put a hose into a bucket of coolant and the vacuum draws the coolant into the system. No air locks.

 

[Sybil TF]

Evan's waterless coolant. It's $ 40.00 dollars a gallon but you never have t o flush again. I have it in my 96 GTS. Don't be a cheapskate!!!! My husband has been been using the airlift for years.

 

[Jack B]

Not everyone has been successful in removing the engine block drain plugs and/or the radiator drain plug. Several owners have damaged the radiator. The easiest way is to remove the lower radiator hose and use a flush kit back at the heater hose (passenger side) - this forces the antifreeze out of the engine. I could not remove either of the aforementioned drain plugs on my 97. I thought I was going to crack the block.

 

[GTSHolgi]

Not everyone has been successful in removing the engine block drain plugs and/or the radiator drain plug. Several owners have damaged the radiator. The easiest way is to remove the lower radiator hose and use a flush kit back at the heater hose (passenger side) - this forces the antifreeze out of the engine. I could not remove either of the aforementioned drain plugs on my 97. I thought I was going to crack the block.

I also did not remove the radiator drain plug since many of you here had advised not to do it. The engine drain plugs in my case did come out relatively easily. I never had the feeling to crack something. But I do had to apply some human torque.... I more had a concern of cracking something (not so much the block but more the threads) when putting them back in. Therefore I did not screw them in as much as they were and used some Loctite thread sealant to make sure it does not leak. And so far, everything is fine.

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[agentf1]

CEJ, how long does the Mopar Long Life last?

I would love to use something that cuts back on the intervals.

Nobody is using the Peak Lifetime?

 

[CEJ]

Mopar Long-Life coolant (red stuff) lasts 5 years.

FWIW, my radiator drain plug came out w/o any drama and very little effort. I used Rector-Seal (forget which one) on the threads before reinstalling. Used Rector-Seal on the t-stat housing plug too. No leaks of any kind in the system.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Mopar Orange [5-year] or Purple [10-year]. Use a Mopar flush if you had green installed. Also, change it again after a year or two, as the green coolants coat with silicates which will deteriorate over time- some of this will be flushed out on future flushes.

 

[CEJ]

The 10-year coolant is news to me. Pretty expensive, but a 10-year maintenance interval is nice. Thanks!

 

[GTSHolgi]

Mopar Orange [5-year] or Purple [10-year]. Use a Mopar flush if you had green installed. Also, change it again after a year or two, as the green coolants coat with silicates which will deteriorate over time- some of this will be flushed out on future flushes.

What exactly is a "Mopar flush"?? Just a normal flush or something particular? Thanks!

 

[GTSHolgi]

Mopar Orange [5-year] or Purple [10-year]. Use a Mopar flush if you had green installed. Also, change it again after a year or two, as the green coolants coat with silicates which will deteriorate over time- some of this will be flushed out on future flushes.

What exactly is a "Mopar flush"?? Just a normal flush or something particular? Thanks!

 

[chopperpilot]

I'm using the Peak Lifetime and get it at NAPA but they aren't keeping it on their shelves so they have to have it sent to them from their warehouse.

 

[kenphjr]

what exactly is a "mopar flush"?? Just a normal flush or something particular? Thanks!

that's when you use the toilet in your local dodge dealership

 

[ontariomystic]

I used amsoil coolant. Flushed 3 times with 100% distilled water first.

 

[GTSHolgi]

that's when you use the toilet in your local dodge dealership

That is too funny...

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I used to use just distilled water only in my 2000, never had to worry about freezing.

 

[CEJ]

I used to use just distilled water only in my 2000, never had to worry about freezing.

What do you add to the water for corrosion prevention?

 

[Matt M PA]

Perhaps of help to some...Stopped by Advance Auto Parts today. They sell a "Peak Conventional Green Coolant". Says on the bottle that it's for pre 2000 Chrysler products. I use the old style coolant in the '72 Plymouth and prefer to keep the Vipers ('96 & 2000) with same. There may be better coolants these days...but I'm just not comfortable with switching.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Perhaps of help to some...Stopped by Advance Auto Parts today. They sell a "Peak Conventional Green Coolant". Says on the bottle that it's for pre 2000 Chrysler products. I use the old style coolant in the '72 Plymouth and prefer to keep the Vipers ('96 & 2000) with same. There may be better coolants these days...but I'm just not comfortable with switching.

IMO, that is a mistake. If you saw what the old coolants do to the inside of engines, you would already be in the driveway draining that stuff out.

 

[GTSHolgi]

IMO, that is a mistake. If you saw what the old coolants do to the inside of engines, you would already be in the driveway draining that stuff out.

Does your statement regarding old coolants apply to the Mopar Green Antifreeze as well? Or are you referring to other coolants when you say "old coolants"?

 

[Viper Specialty]

Does your statement regarding old coolants apply to the Mopar Green Antifreeze as well? Or are you referring to other coolants when you say "old coolants"?

ALL of the green coolants are "old style" coolants that are silicate based, including the Mopar type.

 

[GTSHolgi]

Can you elaborate a bit more on what it exactly does to the inside of the engine? After quite some research on this forum I decided that it would be better to use the same type of coolant for the refresh as I did not want to flush the system a couple of times before filling in red or purple antifreeze. But your statement now concerns me a little bit....

 

[Sybil TF]

Can you elaborate a bit more on what it exactly does to the inside of the engine? After quite some research on this forum I decided that it would be better to use the same type of coolant for the refresh as I did not want to flush the system a couple of times before filling in red or purple antifreeze. But your statement now concerns me a little bit....

Look up Evan's coolant. It is not water based, no corrosion.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Can you elaborate a bit more on what it exactly does to the inside of the engine? After quite some research on this forum I decided that it would be better to use the same type of coolant for the refresh as I did not want to flush the system a couple of times before filling in red or purple antifreeze. But your statement now concerns me a little bit....

Older type silicate based coolants coat the inside of the engine with a layer of silicates when first installed, and offer little protection afterwords, also lowering the temperature transfer rate to the coolant. These coatings eventually break down causing a lack of protection, and form sludge deposits that accumulate in low-velocity areas of the cooling system. To make matters worse, these also damage water pump seals. The "flush" is designed to help get some of this stuff out, but it can take multiple flushes over a couple years to get the job decently done.

Newer coolants do not coat the engine. They are of the Organic Acid type, and only attack corrosion when it actually occurs, which is why they last so much longer as they do not deplete themselves immediately. The insides of these engines remain near spotless, with virtually no deposits.

The Orange Mopar coolant is a hybrid. It is an OAT coolant, but it contains just a tad of silicates- though not enough to actually coat anything noticeably or form deposits. The Purple is a straight OAT coolant, no silicates.

 

[GTSHolgi]

Thanks for the insight! Trying to better understand the whole story I browsed the internet a bit and found an article from which I extracted the following interesting statements:

"Chrysler, the last of the Detroit 3 car makers to use a silicated antifreeze, has switched to an organic acid technology (OAT) formula for the 2013 model year.

At Chrysler, the objective was to be able to pass an engineering test for a 10-year, 150,000-mi coolant service interval—which becomes the most aggressive schedule of the Detroit-3 makers. Although extended coolant service intervals have been promoted by environmentalists to reduce coolant waste and possible inappropriate dumping, the 10-year/150,000-mi interval reportedly was just a competitive maintenance decision by Chrysler.

Silicate inhibitors have been used for many decades, and antifreeze chemists still may admit there is no equivalent substitute. It forms a durable coating on the walls of the cooling system, and because it works so quickly, it re-establishes protection within the water pump if the surface becomes pockmarked by imploding coolant bubbles from cavitation. The pockmarked surfaces, if left unprotected, would corrode.

Organic acids form an oxide coating that provides comparable and often much longer-lasting protection, but it takes about 5000 miles (8000 km) to form, during which time corrosion may occur.

One major automaker still using a silicate formula with a long service interval is Daimler. Its engineering approach permits a service interval of 15 years/150,000 miles. Daimler’s “secret” is a silica gel packet, similar to what is used with electronics packaging, in the coolant reservoir. Daimler has found it gradually releases enough silicate to “refresh” the antifreeze."