Best coolant for rover V8
#1
Best coolant for rover V8
Hey all! I'm getting ready to do the inline tstat mod and figured it was time to do coolant as well. I originally replaced the coolant when I got the vehicle along with a replacement factory tstat, new expansion bottle/cap, and new water pump. At the time I used prestone "yellow" and distilled water. I have since read up that these motors are supposed to use "orange" dexcool exclusively. A couple of questions:
1. Am i boned? was Prestone "yellow" a bad call?
2. If I'm going to do a fresh flush and fill, what is the best option going forward? Orange? Blue? stick with yellow?
1. Am i boned? was Prestone "yellow" a bad call?
2. If I'm going to do a fresh flush and fill, what is the best option going forward? Orange? Blue? stick with yellow?
#2
#3
Yes. Search is your friend. I too use good ol' Prestone.
Pull the lower radiator hose and drain what you can. Reconnect the hose and refill the system with distilled water, bleeding the system according to the procedure in the RAVE. Take the truck for a drive for a few miles, just to circulate and mix what's in the system. Let the truck cool down and repeat the process until you can't see any color from the antifreeze. It usually takes two cycles for my truck, maybe three if you want to be sure you have all the old antifreeze out. At that point you have only, or mostly, distilled water in the system. Drain the system again and then fill it with Prestone Concentrate, not the 50/50 they sell.
You'll end up with a 50/50 mix since about half the water stays in the system when it's drained by pulling the lower hose. Take the truck for another drive of a few miles, and top it up with more Prestone Concentrate. This is what I have done every other year for the last decade plus.
Pull the lower radiator hose and drain what you can. Reconnect the hose and refill the system with distilled water, bleeding the system according to the procedure in the RAVE. Take the truck for a drive for a few miles, just to circulate and mix what's in the system. Let the truck cool down and repeat the process until you can't see any color from the antifreeze. It usually takes two cycles for my truck, maybe three if you want to be sure you have all the old antifreeze out. At that point you have only, or mostly, distilled water in the system. Drain the system again and then fill it with Prestone Concentrate, not the 50/50 they sell.
You'll end up with a 50/50 mix since about half the water stays in the system when it's drained by pulling the lower hose. Take the truck for another drive of a few miles, and top it up with more Prestone Concentrate. This is what I have done every other year for the last decade plus.
The following 2 users liked this post by mln01:
DiscoID (09-15-2021),
thebilgerat (09-13-2021)
#4
The following users liked this post:
thebilgerat (09-13-2021)
#5
The following users liked this post:
thebilgerat (09-14-2021)
#6
The following users liked this post:
thebilgerat (09-15-2021)
#7
The following users liked this post:
thebilgerat (09-15-2021)
#8
I’m buying a D2 next week that belongs to the local LR Independent shops’ LR mechanic who’s become a good friend of mine (that’s a big asset btw… haha!).
It’s an ‘03 with about 30k miles on an AB top hat motor. Still running Dexcool.
As you would expect, he likes whatever LR spec’d for it, and says he’s never had bad experiences with Dexcool as long as it’s drained and replaced.
Id rather avoid Dexcool and just run the regular stuff. So going to do a flush after I get it sometime soon.
Ive read a bunch of threads on coolant flushing and it seems like the key is to flush with distilled water multiple times to get the Dexcool totally out. Any other recommendations?
It’s an ‘03 with about 30k miles on an AB top hat motor. Still running Dexcool.
As you would expect, he likes whatever LR spec’d for it, and says he’s never had bad experiences with Dexcool as long as it’s drained and replaced.
Id rather avoid Dexcool and just run the regular stuff. So going to do a flush after I get it sometime soon.
Ive read a bunch of threads on coolant flushing and it seems like the key is to flush with distilled water multiple times to get the Dexcool totally out. Any other recommendations?