radiator help

[stan]

At work we have a one ton ford truck with a 460 every year the old truck starts runnin hot and the mechanic replaces the radiator and every thing is fine for another year. the other day Cntry picked me up a new radiator from alumitech for ole southern stlyle seems she been heatin up to 200 degrees here latley installed the radiator and she runs about 165 degrees.evidently the aluminum must be corodin or something for it to loose coolin capacity .My question is what can i put in the cooling system to make my radiator last longer as this is my third one in 6 years.

 

[Waterthunder]

If not done properly this could be an issue with the all aluminum LS1. However GM put allot of effort into solving any potential problems do to people not maintaining their cooling systems. First thing is run ONLY distilled water and second for antifreeze run ONLY DEXCOOL this will solve the problem and if you want even more protection GM sells anti corrosion tablets that you just pop in your radiator. These problems are common when mixing aluminum radiators or heads with iron blocks they are dissimilar metals in contact with the water and this causes what's called galvanic corrosion especially when using tap water that is high in mineral content.

 

[jdotson]

So if I am running an aluminum radiator with my iron block and heads I should run Dexcool? That is important information to know. Too bad the radiator manufacturers don't send an important notice with their product. If I switch to Dexcool, are there any steps to take other than normal flushing of the system before adding the Dexcool?

 

[stan]

thanks thunder dexcool ( is that at the auto parts store ?)and distilled water

 

[Waterthunder]

Any parts store will carry it it's designed by GM for the LS1's with Iron blocks and aluminum heads or the all aluminum LS1 make sure to use distilled water and just flush your old stuff out you don't need to do anything special.

 

[a1mudpuppy]

Hey WT can you use the premix? I was at the auto parts store last night and only seen the premix. I know that other stores will have it but premix will be nice to carry on the boat if you need to add a little.

Is the premix as good if not better that strait Dexcool and distilled water?

 

[NorthWestFloridaBoy]

the premix should work but you would have to fill the entire radiator and engine block with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Dave's givin real good advice here that a lot of people can benefit from. Especially guys who have very hard water like I do. It didn't take me long to realize that my water basically destroyed cooling systems. All it takes is one component to be made of aluminum in the cooling system combined with the cast iron, and it all goes down hill from there. I tried skimping a couple years back with my big block Camaro. I just put tap water in it "for a couple days until I go get some bottled water"...(Yeah we all know how that one goes). The only component I had aluminum was the water pump. Within a couple weeks, the engine started runnin hot. Turns out, the corrosion of the water pump was so bad that it plugged the passages and basically destroyed a $200 pump. Sometime I'm better at givin advice than following my own. LOL

Felber